CAHMS?

[mumtoaandj]

i have written before regarding my 4 year old son-i ahve always had a feeling something is not right with his behaviour and some oddnesses. i am a trained teacher and today took the plunge and asked the doctor for help. she gave me a choice- either see a paedatrician or CAHMS-i chose CAHMS as i thought they might give me some management help etc. what do they actually do? is there a website? did i make the right choice.

son likes routine, hates loud noises, hits, bashes people, is bright, poor fine motor, has not slept through, talks ovr the top of people about same thing.

I have found CAMHS helpful, but depending where you live I think depends on their services. Where I lived in S. Wales they would diagnose autism, here in N. Wales they don't but if they suspect it would then refer you to the autism team.
I saw CAMHS in N. Wales initially it was because my son had anxiety, they saw him and referred him to the autism team as realised that was the reason behind his anxiety. I saw them again recently after the autism team referred him back after diagnosis as they suspected ADHD too. They asked me lots of questions about DS, have referred him for further ADHD testing, also referred us on to OT for his motor skills, and have given melatonin for sleeping issues.
When I saw CAMHS in S. Wales several years ago, we had 3 meetings with a social pracitioner there, she had just decided DS needed further referal within CAMHS to decide what was wrong when the paed who referred us decided it wasn't ASD but just school anxiety so the paed un-referred us from CAMHS. If that hadn't been the case DS would have got his dx several years ago.
From personal experience therefore I would say seeing CAMHS without the paed is definitely the right decision!

thank you- what sort of things do they talk about with you? is it all practical management of behaviour and you come out feeling like a bad parent with poor skills. will they be able to "tell" straight away if he has a "problem"? sorry for silly questions.

camhs services depends on the area that you live....i was trying to get my dd a diagnosis from her being 2yrs......they wouldn't diagnose....we moved county when my dd was 15 and her camhs was passed to new county...she now has dx of asp/asd/ptsd/apd.....so it just depends what county your in

I got the same choice for my dd and I chose the pead purely because CAMHS wait time was huge in our area. We got ADHD dx and paed has now said he needs to refer to CAMHS so they can talk and play more in depth with her and find out exactly what her weaknesses are and if there are any other underlying co-morbid conditions, also she has very low self esteem and he said they will help with that. I've never been there before either but know it varies between counties

oh i live in whitby north yorkshire- is there a way of finding out about the service they offer etc and time frames.

I'm in Devon and on our local council .gov website there's a bit of info try googling it and see what comes up x

thank you am doing it now

mumtoaandj - I am not a million miles away from you - would it be ok to pm you with some info?

We are involved with CAMHS in my area, Dd3 was referred to community paeds fisrt and we were with them for a year but the the paed moved on and left us in limbo so we got a referral to CAMHS, so far they have been good it can be a long winded process so try not to get to stressed about time. The wheels turn slowly.

Keep a diary of any unusual/quirky behaviour because they will ask you loads of questions.

Good luck.

CAMHS can be brilliant but it often depends on who sees you. A diagnosis often comes from a Consultant who doesnt always tell you what to do about it, or how to live with it and help your child to be happy. It's often helpful to look up a lot for yourself first, although that can be scary [I've had a brain tumour several times that way!!!] CAMHS is part of the NHS, just googled CAMHS Whitby and it said Scarborough....
On the other hand, when/if you get a diagnosis, you can meet up with other parents and get the practical advice from them.Good luck

thank you everyone. yes-andperseand please pm me!

We were referred to Paed last year and the Paed has now referred us to CAMHS.

isn't it stupid. why is there not a set route.
can i ask did everyone also get school and ed psych involved too?

Hi there, I don't know what to do either. I think my ds may benefit from CAMHS although here you have to go through PECAMHS first as a screening process and that sounds like a waste of time to me, as it turns out they are x teachers, OT's etc with a bit of councelling training and frankly I think I could do a better job myself. I am not particularly looking for diagnosis, ds does have outbursts, usually about being excluded, but I think he may need help coming to terms with and accepting his disabilities.

When I have asked other parents about CAMHS, all seem to say gr8 for getting a diagnosis, but what they really wanted was help with management and strategies to help at home and at school. Most say that they didn't get that, so it has put me off a bit. Also my ds is adamant that he doesn't want school to know, so will have to do through GP, which is fine. CAMHS have also said to friends that schools not very good generally at taking their advice. IF you do it though at least you have the knowledge that you have ticked it off and got what you can out of it.

i actually feel like a whole weight has been lifted off my shoulders-in that i have actually aknowldged he has a problem. i have now written a list of quirky things he does and am going to send it to the doctor because she really didnt listen to me and i think she just thinks i am a neurotic mother-i am!