CAMHS! I am so annoyed.

[keepingupwiththejoneses]

Special school have been having some problems with ds3, he is having major meltdowns with a lot of violent out bursts. Although he is only 5.7 he is huge and very strong, teacher also says he is very cleaver in that he will look to find a way of hurting an adult. He throws thing around the class room and is biting, hitting, head butting and kicking other children and adults in school. Spoke to teacher a few weeks ago and she asked if it was ok for her to put a referral through for CAMHS, I said yes.
This morning I got a letter to say the referral had been refused and their recommendation was that I go on a Triple P parenting course! FFS it isn't me having the bloody problems with ds. Idiots! Triple P is crap for ASD anyway. I have done a good few ASD specific programmes anyway.

How frustrating! I wouldn't take it personally, I suspect you got their standard rebuttal letter - i.e. go away, we don't want to provide services.

Is the teacher not accessing the ed psych? That would be more usually in an educational context. CAMHS in most areas simply don't get involved in anything that happens in schools - of course ed psychs don't either much!

I would try and find out who is the best person to speak to. Ask the teacher about the ed psych and why she suggested CAMHS as CAMHS won't deal with it.

I should add that if it is a special school, there should be some organised pathway for this. You can't be the first person in this situation.

We have a bit of a strange system here. Our CAMHS has a team that deal specifically with behaviour and emotional problems in children with SLD, which is where ds falls, we have been under them before but were discharged a few months ago. This is the pathway, as we only have 3 EP for the whole borough and they just don't have the capacity to deal with all the SN children so they tend to concentrate on ms kids and statements.
I spoke to the teacher earlier, she couldn't believe it, she said it has got to be budget cut thing, she has heard of it happening to kids with behavioural issues who have no dx that wouldn't be under the SLI team but this is the first time she has heard of a child like ds, they have always dealt with the children in the local special schools, we only have 4 little ones. She really was shocked.
I am going to go into school and we are going to try and work it out between us with things that have been suggested before by the team.

Can the school not write back to CAMHS and say ok so you requested the parent goes on a parenting course however it is the school that has concerns about his behaviour and need help on how best to persue things and can they please visit and advise??

Get GP to make the CAMHS referral. It will be taken a lot more seriously than a school's referral.

CAMHS are snowed under with hundreds on their waiting lists.

That's why they refused school's referral.

coff33 that is what school are going to do. wet our local CAMHS is saying they have no waiting list, which is rubbish, the only reason they don't is because they do this stupid panel thing then the first appointment is an assessment, then you wait, a friend has been waiting 18 months to see anyone. SLI team have a very big waiting list, I do know that. GP referral is a waste of time they are useless. Paed is through school, but school have always done referrals and the team work closely with them. The problem is this stupid panel, they haven't even got the information on the refusal letter right, it says parents are experiencing problems with behaviour, when it is school, it says there is no self harming, which there is, and so he doesn't fit criteria. Bloody joke if you ask me.

You know, the whole idea of school making referrals to Paed or CMHS does not sit right with me.

I want a school to educate my children - not decide that they have MH issues.

If they do think that a referral is appropraite they should do so via GP, school nurse or doctor.

That would at least weed out some of the more dubious referrals at the first stage.