Help with CAMHS please

[NewLife4Me]

I have a few questions that i hope somebody can help with.

We have received our questionnaire to complete and send back to them, they have sent school one as well.
The service is a different LA to ours as dd school in another authority.

She is currently being assessed for lots of different things including learning disabilities. Am I right that they don't want to know about these? Or do I mention this is also happening, or will her SENCO?

We don't have any specifics as to what particular diagnosis they are looking at, can somebody tell me all the ones they cover so I can eliminate the obvious ones, or does it not work like that.

Do they see people during the summer holidays, or term time only. Have a rough guide as they said 11 weeks.
Are people seen on a list determined by the date they were referred or by severity like A&E.
Sorry for the ridiculous questions.

I know this will vary between child and possible diagnosis but what sort of things do they do? I know we will need to go as well.

My experience is little in this regard, went once with ds many years ago, that's about my experience.

Anybody?

Also, the form says worries within the last 3 months.
Do we tell them about needing speech therapy pre school at our meeting?
I don't want to leave anything out and it not be included in her assessment.

If you don't want to leave anything out then I would put it on the questionnaire. Repeating something the school is also likely to advise them on is good IMO, it shows that as a parent you are aware of what is going on.
I am sorry but I don't know what they will be assessing for. However, I would just be straightforward with answers and not make any assumptions towards anything in particular on the questionnaire, it is their job to assess.
Wishing you well and hope someone with more inside knowledge will comment to put your mind at ease x

Worries could be something along the lines of 'concerned she is not socialising as expected with her year group'. Apologies if this is way off the mark xx

Is it the Conners scale questionnaire?

Tell them everything because they will dismiss/ignore half of it at least.

Sorry for being so cynical

We are back on the waiting list.

Its 28 questions with answers, Not true, somewhat true certainly true, to tick. My problem is there are some behaviours that are only present sometimes (somewhat) under certain circumstances, not generally sometimes iyswim.
I think I'm over thinking but not sure of the process so don't know how in depth to go. It also asks what are the main problems, and continue on the back sheet if necessary.
Not sure whether to give examples to the concern or just list.
Concerned if they read them out to dd and they are all negative she'll be upset with us.
Will they let us see them separately? I don't know what to expect.
She was referred by SENCO at school and the school gp and school ed psych.
I'm fearing all sorts of diagnosis, because there isn't one thing that makes you think yes, that's it. Some descriptors she meets seem to come from more serious labels. I'm sure it's coincidence, I hope it is.

If I said didn't recognise authority, would that be really bad.
Not disrespectful or maliciously though. More as a on a par with them, like they are her peers. A bit of illusion of grandeur type of thing.
I'm worried.

I've been trying to post this for 15 mins now.

Last time we were dismissed with just st the offer of a positive parenting course. School senco begged them to reconsider so I really would err on the side of exaggeration.

That's interesting, thanks.
Did you have to wait long for an appointment.
Tbh, as long as school are helping like they are doing a diagnosis is only important for the future and also with the education assessments I'd like to know how the behaviours fit in, iyswim.
Were your questions finally answered by anyone.

I hope this post is quicker than the last.

I don't think we waited very long last time - 3-4 weeks but we've been told it's a 3 month wait at the moment.

We may need to change his school.

Sorry you are back on the list, a shame they didn't sort it last time.
I have no idea what to expect and just want to try my best for dd.

She's fine atm and half of what we were concerned about isn't there atm and peace reigns, but she doesn't feel under pressure atm, has just had half term and finishes for summer in 4 weeks.

That happened to us. The holidays began, ds had no stress. He had a new class teacher the next year, things were nicer& gentle to start with so we left it.

But two years later & he's on the verge of being thrown out of school for having meltdowns so keep at it.

I'm a SENCO and on the form and additional notes you just need to put as much detail as possible. It's better to give them too much info than have them dismiss your case due to lack of details.
They do work all through the year and see children out of term time. You could be waiting a few weeks for an initial assessment then a further few more weeks for 'treatment' sessions.
I'm sure school wouldn't mind you asking their opinion or advice on the form. I've sat with many parents to help go through their form as I understand how daunting these things can be. And the biggest bit of advice j can give is be honest... No one is going to judge you or your child. These services are there to help. I hope you Dd gets the help she deserves.

Thank you so much FirstTimer and others who have posted.
I feel much better about it all now and am panicking far less.
I haven't been trying to self diagnose but have looked at one or two labels (for want of a better terminology) and have at least narrowed it down a bit as some just shout out as applicable, others not so much.

I just want her to be able to reach her potential, no matter what they come back with.

I do have a question that our SENCO isn't available to answer atm.
On the form it says that assessment is for problems that can't be explained by learning disabilities (or words to this effect) She was referred to CAMHS via school doctor.

As she is also undergoing assessment for learning disabilities, in particular dyslexia and dyspraxia, but others also, how can anyone tell if it is related or not until after the assessment report.

If you have any reports send them with the questionaire as the school did not include the EP report and CAMHS had put the referal to one side as they didn't know what we were asking them to diagnose! As far as I understand it there are 3 pathways, ASD, ADHD and anxiety. I had to phone up and chase them and send them the reports I had. My Ds was diagnosed with ADHD last year. My DS has now been referred to the anxiety pathway but I have been told if he meets the criteria it is a 2 year waiting list!