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CAMHS assessment, what to expect

2 replies

ZippyCameBack · 15/07/2017 22:41

After knowing for years that my 9 year old son has some sort of difficulty with learning/concentration, but his HT insisting that there was nothing wrong (despite him being nearly 3 years behind in nearly everything and having really obvious difficulty concentrating or even sitting still), he got a new teacher this year and she agreed with me that he needed to be assessed. She thinks that he has ADHD, or possibly some form of autism (she has a background in special needs education and did an assessment which showed definite problems) . After much faffing about, we've finally got a referral for an assessment for the child and adolescent psychiatry clinic.
This is a huge relief but I really have no idea what to expect, or what will happen. I'd like to be able to prepare him a bit- he is very good natured and his general behaviour is very good, but he does get anxious if he doesn't know what to expect. For example, should both me and his father be there, or do they really only want to see him? I'm assuming there won't be any kind of physical examination, but am I wrong? He would get very anxious about that so would need careful preparation.
Has anyone else been through this? I'd really appreciate any advice because it's all a bit foreign to me.

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demirose87 · 16/07/2017 16:21

Hi haven't really got any advice but am hoping someone replies soon as I'm going through similar with my daughter age 3 and a half. She is under an EHAT and was at first refused from CAHMS but her behaviour has grown increasingly worse and HV has requested another referral and just wondering what kind of thing they ask.

ZippyCameBack · 29/08/2017 20:45

Well, we've had our appointment and it went very well. there are some things the school should have been doing but weren't which are holding a proper diagnosis up, apparently, but the CAMHS nurse will tackle that when we have a meeting with the school.
She asked a lot of very detailed questions about everything from his birth weight to his relationships with his brothers, his behaviour at school etc. Lots of questions about family life, our backgrounds, that kind of thing, but nothing very intrusive. He chose this meeting to sit still for the first continuous hour of his entire life, but behaved very well and answered all the questions he was asked. More meetings to come and doubtless many more questions, but no physical exam of any kind and it was all quite informal and reassuring.

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