Any one had any experience with CAMHS

[nosuchthingasagruffelo]

Hi,

My little boy had been undergoing various assessments for sometime now looking at probable high functioning autism. We have had a few problems along the way especially with school as his behaviour seems to be pretty good at school and worse at home or out and about. He has also has issues with his weight he is very tall and eats like a pig but it under weight!

We have been refered to the local CAMHS team, i was just wondering if anyone had any experience of them and what they do, i have read some real horror stories and im starting to worry about the meeting!

I hope someone can help put my mind at rest!

Thanks

Claire x

we are going to our 2nd CAMHS appointment next week. my DD is being assessed for ASD. i was petrified, but it really was ok. me and my DD were taken into a room and it was just questions being asked. her history, any medical problems, what our main worries are. what are her 'behaviours'. who else has a problem with her. she spoke to my DD too, who more or less tried to ignore her. that was it

Thankyou for your reply!

I think ive just got myself so worked up after reading the horror stories!

I do believe it will help us in the long run with the whole assessment process which is why when it was suggested by his paed i said ok to it!

weve been on the assesment path for well over a year now as waiting lists for everything are huge in our area! i really hope CAMHS can help.

Thanks again x

yep, i got so worked up too. then afterwards i was like 'why the hell was i so worried'
i was told the diagnosis (or non diagnosis) will take about a year as the meetings are only once a month or so. we are under the SCAT team as the paed had written on the referral letter that she thinks my girl has autism.
my DD did act her usual weird self in there which i was pleased about, as i expected her to go in all smily and 'normal' and make me out to be the liar that kids do

We've had mixed experiences but the problems were more to do with speed of accessing appropriate therapies due to chronic short staffing than the actual quality of treatment. If you do run into problems, PALS (patient advice liaison service) are helpful.

CAMHS have always been very good with us as a whole.. Webave accessed them a good few times and have come away in a better situation than we went in.

take a list of any concerns and developmental things in with you because you mind may go blank. :)

and also pop on that list anything you have already tried as a strategy. ( it saves going over old ground).

Waiting lists are long and the process can take ages, particularly if the presentation of ASD isn't clear cut.

If you disagree with anything say so, and it's helpful if you ask for you tobe kept upto date in writing ( you may need a paper trail later on in life and it's goodto have).

Also grab a note pad and have that as your contact log, who said what, when andthings to be done etc so you know when to chase things up or who promised something.
Also get a lever arch file and lots of polly pockets to keep EVERYTHING together and at hand. Right from school reports, school files, SALT,pead, EP reports and any letters and appointments. Also worth making a current issues list, with strategy list to go with it, noting what has/ hadn't worked.

( and it will keep you busy while your waiting .)

hth

We have had a good experience with CAMHS so far Dd3 was referred to them for an ASD assessment.

They have helped us a lot and have believed in us which had been an issue with other so called proffessionals.

Dd3 is very compliant at school but can be very hard work at home.

We kept a diary for a couple of weeks before we went for the first appointment detailing any behaviour/anxiety issues and how we had dealt with them.

I hope your local CAMHS is as helpful as ours[busmile].

I have been working with CAMHS as a therapist (in multidisciplinary teams) and I have found them to be very professional and helpful. They (like everyone else) are suffering cuts, so there may be delays because of lack of resources but I'm sure they will do whatever they can to help your ds, Claire.

I was really surprised by CAHMS actually. My son was refered to us as part of his ASD diagnosis but after 2 meetings with them they told me they strongly suspected ASD but that they couldn't diagnose, that's what I thought they were for??

Anyway they dis-charged my son and told us to come back for some support once a diagnosis is in place. We got the diagnosis and got back in contact only to be told now that ASD has been confirmed there are more appropriate organisations to support us and they generally deal with children without a diagnosis !!

Very strange indeed.

So far my experience with CAHMS has been good. We have had our first assessment and basically my DS was left to happily roam around the room with toys to his hearts content whilst they went through the basics of how many in family and ages etc what our concerns are, what proffessionals have seen him at school and their names and how he deals with different situations in school and home life.

We were initially given some forms to fill in prior to the assessment which helps greatly for you and them as you have a guide to go by. What amazed me was they sent a full report of our meeting and in it was all the things they noticed in DS with his vocabulary, awareness and other actions. In other words my ds was also being assessed at this meeting without actually being aware of it and so was relaxed.

They were quick to give us an appointment and quick to return the report and give me aspergers test question form to fill in and another that I cant remember. Within two days of seeing them forms had already been sent and received at DS school and within a week I have been phoned by them asking permission to do a school assessment of DS at his school. I have got to say I was worried about the whole thing in the first instance but now I have been I can honestly say I am impressed (and lucky) with the promptness of things.