CAMHS tomorrow! And I am very nervous

[lisad123]

Thats it really.
I'm
So worried it is something we have done, or not done.
What if they offer medication, I'm not up to speed with that stuff.
Will they want to talk to her alone (good luck!)

For those that don't know, dd1 is 9, and Asd. She is very anxious to the point of self harm, refusal to eat and leave the house.

of course it's not anything that you have/have not done - anxiety is very common in children with ASD. If they do offer meds you can think about it and get back to them. Hope it all goes well for you.

Definetely nothing youve done or not done. Stay positive. If they offer meds tell them you will think about. They have never seen my son on his own, (though he doesnt communicate ). If its any consolation i was same as you before i saw them, and have to say the camhs psychologist doctor that i see is the only one to ever help me, she is amazing (though i realise from posts on mn i am very fortunate). My ds is at the moment covered in bruises with pinching himself (totally covered looks like chickenpox that bad), he is also bald each side of his head and hands all cut from rubbing the hair away on his head. Camhs psychologist realises he is extremely anxious had him in hospital last week for 5 days for x rays, bloods etc. No better when she called yesterday to tell me she on holiday from tomorrow for a week, guess what she called the hospital for me to go in yesterday & today for meds to calm him down, and is getting him assessed again tomorrow. They are not all bad, ds not been to school from 9 november, and rarely wants to leave house. Hopefully they will be most helpful to you, same as me. Wishing you lots of luck for tomorrow, keep us update x

I remember our 1st visit to CAMHS with DS aged about 5. Psychiatrist said "I'll need to ask a few questions before I prescribe". Prescribe what I thought - we had only gone to find out why DS behaved the way he did - which turned out to be a DX of HF ASD. Psychiatrist also said of DS "he reminds me very much of myself as a child!!! I am still convinced to this day that he too had AS/HF ASD. Never got a chance to find out as he left his job.

I was not prepared for or had even thought of medication at that point for DS. In fact I was quite shocked at the mention of it. We have not gone down that road since either, although I have considered it at times.

It is entirely your choice. If you and they think it will help your DD then it might be worth a try. What is right for one child isn't right for another. You can always try and then stop if it doesn't seem to work. You are in control. They cannnot force you to medicate your child.

Good luck - ask lots of questions.

lisad How did it go? Was it helpful?

It went ok ish!

I havent taken to the pychologist too well for a number of reasons.

He never asked me a direct question, eg when you had the girls did you feel low in mood, tearful ect. Just ask if i had PND!

He assumed to ask dh if he was working but didnt ask me

He told me all the good stuff about autism (yes im aware of it, i do live with it everyday)

He went on to tell me that often G&T and children with high IQs get dx of ASD, when in fact they are just bright Lucky for me dd1 at that point had taken all his animals and lined them up in species and size order

He tried to talk to DD1 and she got very stressed.

At the end he said so you explained dd get very anixious when she gets things wrong, when things dont go her way and when routines chnage. Can you think of anything else?? Kept asking? Answer was NO, but if you think how many times a day those things hapen, its a fair amount of time each day.

I have requested Art therapy and CBT, he is taking it back to the team and hopefully someone can provide those services.

DH suggested I might have been a little scarcy to him as I had my proffessional head on (only way to stop myself crying atm), and dh said i was scarcy

So a bit mixed. Just about sums up my experience of CAMHS. I hope you do get the services you asked for and that they help. Any degree of selfharm in DCs is just sooo difficlut to watch. If anyone doubts my DS's AS diagnosis, they just have to watch him curl up into a fetal position when they ask him how he feels to know that it is correct. On the professional/scary bit, I don't think you can win. If you are meek and mild, you get patronised; if your are competent and knowledgeable, the profs get defensive!

It was a bit of an 'ish' meeting wasnt it :)

I go for the scary head too as I find that they dont seem to drag their heels so much as they did when I was Mrs Nice and new to it all :)

Fingers crossed they hurry up with the team meeting and start the CBT ball rolling for your DD xx