DS has appointment for child psychiatrist- what should I expect?

[lars]

My ds has an appointment for a child psychiatrist for an assessment. DS has already seen a therapist who has referred DS to the psychiatrist. Does this mean they do feel there is something wrong or not. You may have read other threads about my DS without sounding boring, DS has had alot of problems at school. My dp and myself just don't know what is really wrong with DS and are looking for answers.
I don't know what to expect when he goes for the assessment and don't really know much about what they actually do. I would like to hear all your views and experiences and any advice you may have for me. larsxx

What sort of therapist referred to a psychiatrist? Personally I would be happier with a Developmental Paediatrician. I have read your other posts Lars but I don't understand why a psychiatrist? Seems a strange route.

Davros, I don't really know why this route ? My dp and myself were not given any other alternatives. Would a developmental paediatrician be better? I really don't know much abouth either as it's very new to me all these assessments, so I don't really know what way I should be going.Any advice would be helpful larsxx

Well maybe I shouldn't say anything to alarm you and there's probably other MNers who know more about this. Its just been my experience of a child with developmental issues, and the 100s of other parents I know of such children, that a Developmental Paediatrician and a Child Development Team are the people to see. I would think that a Psychiatrist is the old fashioned choice, I also believe that Psychiatrists deal with mental health problems which are quite different to developmental problems. I may be wrong and this is the right person to see where you live but IME its unusual. Perhaps he will then refer you to the CDT. Can you ask your GP about the CDT in the meantime anyway? Perhaps you should keep the appt with the Psychiatrist and ask these questions, no harm done.

No experience at all of Child Psychiatrists but I agree with the Davros about going down the Child Development Centre route. They will be looking at all aspects of your ds rather than just his mind. I think it would give you a much clearer picture of what (if anything) is the problem.

That's what happened with my dd. The SALT referred her to the dev. paed at 2 and then he referred her to the the pysch. at about 4 just to confirm his dx. Just wondered out of interest how good are paed. at making dx? Thanks

Are you sure its a psyhciatrist and not a clinical psychologist (usually part of a child development team)?

Jimjams - Just looked at dd's report and it was a consultant psychiatrist that we saw! Whatever that means!!!! They were part of CAMHS and it was all sdone in conjunction with dd's music therapy and paed. assessments!
Does anyone know about the paed and how reliable their dx are? Also the consultant pysch? Thanks

KPB - The Paed we saw was really good. Our initial appointment with her lasted for one hour. At the end of it she gave us a preliminary dx of AS/ASD. I'm almost certain that she has AS herself so maybe that gave her a better insight. In any case, her dx was confirmed by the multi-disciplinary team a few months later.

I think a Dev Paed is the best person to give a diagnosis (and more usual).

Lars - we recently had an appointment to see a psychiatrist with our son who is 9, having been referred by his school because of behavioural problems. We were asked questions about how he behaves, what our concerns are and how we deal with problems. They then wanted to know all about his development from birth and any problems I had in during or after pregnancy. They asked about our families and any respective mental health problems. Lastly we were sent out of the room while they spoke to our son. Hope this helps, although your appointment may be totally different!

Pead is the best one to give a dx as it carries more weight. In our case we saw the clinical psych who gave us an autism dx, and then 2 weks later we saw the paed who got in a huff and said only he was allowed to dx, but that he was going to dx autism Anyway - definitely better from a political/statementing/DLA point of view to have a paed dx.

Scubawoman, sounds very similar referred to by the school and our GP for behavioural problems.
We did have a meeting with CFC therapist who asked similar questions. She has referred ds to the child psychiatrist( consultant I should add). Scubawomen did this help your ds and did you get to the bottom of what was wrong?
Just like to add thanks to all of you kind people for posting this has been a help to me and I will keep you informed of ds progress. Larsxx

Trawling through dd's reports we saw a community paed., official title was senior clinical medical officer. Is this the same as a dev.paed???? Thanks

Lars - personally speaking, no, we did not find it helpful (too long to go into). We had got to the stage where we tried everything both ourselves and the school could think of. We had had a diagnosis of Apsergers earlier in the week, but came out feeling deflated because the consultant psych said he doubted it. Anyway - onwards and upwards - we have a meeting tomorrow with the headmistress to discuss possible exclusion which she hopes may make people sit up and take notice!

KPB, can't say if that person's also a Dev Paed but possibly if Community Paed.....
I have to say, I seriously doubt the benefit of seeing a Child Psychiatrist. I don't want to undermine you but it worries me as Psyciatrists are for mental health problems, emotional disorders, personality disorders etc. Scubawoman's son's AS, IMHO, is not their area and nor are other developmental disorders. They may well be helpful or they may well make you feel awful and question all the "outside" influences (environment, parenting etc). Please ask your GP or HV about the local CDT.

Scubawoman, it all sounds very familar exclusion from school doesn't help you though or DS.
I have to arrange a meeting with the school when I go back, as the last day of term DS was at his worse.
AS has been mentioned by the school about my DS. I am also trying many avenues now. I am in Bupa they have said no to private assessment- can't win.
Davros Perhaps certain areas appear to offer a wider choice. Just to let you know I have waited a year and half for appointment which they cancelled four times with the therapist ( CFC) all children get referred here first by GP and school. larsxx

Blimey! A year and a half! In that case I think I would go ahead as it sounds like its your way to get into the system. Where are you? Not the UK surely? I know schools "usually" refer but they don't have to, parents can too and, if you are in the UK, your area MUST have a CDT. Sorry to say, don't always believe what professionals tell you about how things work. They may genuinely think they are right as its been their experience but they don't always know. You must be bloody stressed after that long wait so don't want to add to your load

Davros yes you could say stressed
CFC ( children, family consultation unit ) basically deal with behaviour issues along with ADHD,etc.
This is where the school and GP refers children to before going anywhere else - long waiting list in Essex. There are so many children being referred in our area, also they have only 4 educational phsy in the whole of essex covering primary schools. Essex is a big area if anyone knows it I'm sure they would be shocked. Larsxx

So when is the appt then Lars? Soon?

Davros, Friday 7th May. Lets hope i will get some answers. Some how I feel this is going to be a long process. larsxx

Well, after that wait I suppose you might as well keep going until May 7th. Maybe just be prepared in case you feel that its not quite appropriate and be ready to ask about Dev Paed and CDT. Is your husband going too? If you get directed to Family Therapy type svs don't feel you have to accept as I think it can be quite damaging at its worst and just inappropriate if your child's got a developmental disorder which needs proper diagnosis and strategies from a Psychologist

lars- it might be worth asking for referral to a developmental paed anyway. I have a friend whose dd was adopted and behavioural problems were assumed to be due to her appalling start in life. Luckily she saw a very good (and very senior) psychiatrist who diagnosed Asperger's. But because the diagnosis didn't come from a paed people like ed psychs are always "overturning" the diagnosis (even though they can't as they're not allowed to). I've heard stories of SALTS etc trying to overturn diagnosis of high functioning autism and replace it with "family trauma" - which is bang out of order- so the more robust the diagnosis the better (in the SALT case the dx had come from the specilialist developmental paed so I have no idea what he was up to tbh).

Agree with Davros, if your child has a developmental problem then going down the family therapy route could be downright damaging.

Just a thought you won't be able to get a private paed appointment without spending a awful lot of money. But other professionals such as Ed Psychs or the charity BIBIC will provide reports that nudge the pros in the right direction. I have heard of a lot of cases where BIBIC have provided reports which have then resulted in the long awaited dx from the local NHS professionals. In our case we found our BIBIC speech therapy report absolutely invaluable as the said how much therapy ds1 NEEDED- very different from how much the NHS would provide- but anyway helped up push for a sensible statement. BIBIC see a whole range of children from the severely disabled to the very intelligent (when we were there a boy who was incredibly bright was being assessed- but he was AS with behavioural problems). BIBIC are professionals so they have to be listened to by the NHS. A 3 day assessment is subsidised and costs £700 BUT they offer bursaries and allow you to fundraise (which they help organise) and offset the amount you raise against your chid's account. In your sort of situation I would recommend it - they provide a detailed developmental assessment.

Thanks for your advice Jimjams and Davros. I will be going to the appointment on the 7th May.
Meanwhile I contacted an outside agency that deal with children on the verge of exclusion includes children with special needs. They have taken an interest and want to see if they can help ds. Another opinion is always useful.
I have taken what you both are saying on board and are ready for the appointment. I do know that my friend went to same place as me and found that they did try to blame her at first ( joke as he comes from a very good stable home) for her DS behaviour, but she was lucky to see an expert in the field of ADHD. This is what her Ds has. So I do know what you are saying and I am a little cautious.
School have already sent report to CFC and have said they feel this is not bad parenting but there is something wrong. Larsxx