CAMHS

[3Trees]

Hi,

So, here we are a little further down the long, and complex road of assessment etc.

DS, who possibly / probably has an ASD of some kind, is being referred to CAMHS. Which I know is Child (and adolescent) mental health.

Is this usual? I was told initially, he's go to a peadiatrician, but no, he's going to CAMHS.

dh says that in some authorities it's just that CAMHS gate keep statementing etc, is this true?

[Wantagoodname]

common why are you reviving loads of zombie Camhs threads??

[commonsense12345]

Beware CAMHS - they will drug your child up to the hilt - if they don't have mental health issues going into Camhs, they will by the time they leave. Avoid at all costs.

[3Trees]

thanks sooty. i don't know how old your ds is, but apparently CAMHS here is just for school aged children. (IF we need them then, I imagine they'll be where we would go)

We have our first trip to actually see anyone about this in the morning, when we'll get a clearer picture of what is going to happen, I hope.

[sooty16]

hi im new on here ,but im in the assessment stage 2,and through my gp was referred to camhs,you have a long chat to raise any concerns you may have ,and then if they feel they can help ,you get a case worker,they help lots of kids with loads of different things emotional,mental ,depression all sorts ,they have ot salt,ped etc all under one roof.and my son has just been referred inside camhs to the asd clinic.ados is our next step.hope this helps.

[genieinabottle]

I see . Sadly the dx process can long winded and nebulous...

Where we are Cahms have two teams , one dealing with the under 5s and one for the above 5.
For us it was lucky that DS was under 5 as the assessment waiting list was a lot shorter.

[3Trees]

thank you.

she says that CAMHS here do school aged children, so ds at 3yrs 9 months is too young for them.

I am, however considering involving adult mental health services, just so that I don't go mad trying to figure out the processes!

[genieinabottle]

We were refered to CAHMS by the consultant paed to whom we were refered by the community paed.

We had two appointments with Cahms.
First app. was a pre-assessment interview, where we went through our concerns (home and nursery) with the Cahms asd paed, she also did a few things with DS, interaction through play type. At the end of the app. she told us verbally that DS has autism (which confirmed what comm. paed had said about DS being on the spectrum) and said she would put his name on the waiting list for the full autism assessment.
Second app. was the full asd assessment with Cahms SALT, Paed, and clinical Psychologist. They did the ADI, ADOS and some non-verbal reasoning test (i can't remember the name), and they gave a formal dx of autism and speech and language disorder.

I know many people have had a bad experience with Cahms, but the one for our area i have found good and thorough. Cahms expertise and helpfulness varies a lot from area to area it would seem.
DS is 4.9y old btw and was assessed and dx two months ago.

Good luck.

[3Trees]

OK, Dh spoke to the SN HV at QEII...

DS does NOT need to go to CAMHS. he's too young. Apparently some GPS don't know this.

he will be going to the community paediatrician, which is what I thought (having read up on here - thanks people!)

DH says she was very helpful, and made the process at least clear in terms of what happens next.

[3Trees]

Oh and SBMo5 - that's exactly what i feel I need help with, knowing how to react, and what to do etc. I don't have older children, though, so it took me a long time (and some pushing by his school) to realise that not all children behave as he does!

[3Trees]

OK, well that's a bit more reassuring that we are potentially at least going to the right place. Although, DH is going to telephone the SN HV today just to be sure

Thanks guys.

[sexybrunettemotherof5]

So basically CAMHS differs from area to area then?

Thanks for your reply starlight. I really really hope that they CAN help with some of his difficulties. What I most want help with is advice on what to do, how to react etc re his behaviour. I just don't seem able to parent this one properly...I feel quite at a loss as to what to do, and it's not through lack of experience, I have 4 older children who were all reasonably straight forward.

[wasuup3000]

CAMHS here where I am have a specialist ASD team.

[colditz]

Ds1 was referred straight to CAMHS, has never seen a paed. They diagnosed him with ADHD and Autism.

[sexybrunettemotherof5]

So what exactly can CAMHS do? My ds is under the paed, OT, SALT etc baeing assesed for asd (verbal dx of as), but his SALT has referred us on to CAMHS. I think it's cos she saw ds really playing up for me, and we talked about what areas I'd most like help in, and told her I don't care about a dx really, just want to know how to cope with his behaviours. So will CAMHS be able to help with this sort of stuff?

Sorry to hijack the thread btw.

[logi]

hi,my son was referred to CAHMS he was dx by them and they were great...the only people who actually listened to us.

[Bigpants1]

Hi. Where I am, CAMHS also can do the ASD assessment-they have not only child psychiatrists, but cliical psychologists, OTs and Speech&Language therapists on their team.
Where you get referred for assessment varies across the country. Here, there is a "pathway" being developed for ASD and ADHD, and when completed, pre-schoolers will be referred to a Paeditrician,and school age dc to CAMHS.
What matters,is that the professional involved with your dc, is trained in ASD assessment, and you can have trust and a working relationship with them.

[gaia]

Just wanted to add that where I am camhs do the diagnosing as well,a child psychiatrist with a specialism in learning difficulties and a paediatrician did it in a joint clinic but it was a camhs led thing. They also got us a fab nurse specialist as well who I've found really useful.

[daisy5678]

CAMHS here do all the dxing.

[3Trees]

DH is not, some of the others are.