Bracing myself for appointment tomorrow.

[LadyFingers]

ello all. (tis I multiple recent namechanger)

DD has an appointment tommorow with 'Healthy Minds'

She got her aspergers diagnosis last year (aged 13) with CAMHS who couldn't offer ant sort of follow up or anything. Since then we've been pottering along but school problems pushed us to yet another crisis point so I asked GP for re-referral. CAMHS couldn't help so we are now going to Healthy Minds. what the difference is remains to be seen. (also I have some ishoos with aspergers being a mental health problem but you never know....)

anyway, school has been a bit shite and can't seem to make it better for DD. she just hates it and won't go much. She goes sometimes, to some lessons.

So appointment tommorow. reading the letter it looks like they'll be starting again from the beginning. they want the whole family there, except DD1 can't come as she has GCSE stuff to do. And I am bracing myself for the same old 'How happy are you as a family' and 'Do you do a lot of arguing' and 'did you have postnatal depression' type questions.

Is it only my paranoia or are they indirectly loooking to see if it is my fault? That's what the questions very much feel like.

I also very much resent the lumping aspergers or ASD in with mental health problems. Not that there is anything wrong with mental health illness (much like having any physical illness if you ask me) but i don't think aspergers is a mental health illness. i think it is a neurological problem and it is different. But maybe they can help with the byproduct of it, like the anxieties and stuff. like washing hands loads (which i have suddenly noticed DD doing ut hat's a whole new thread......)

I am not looking forward to it.

sorry. that was long and waffly.

apart from all that DD has been delightful recently (when not at school).

Good luck tomorrow - I hope it goes well.

I agree with you - I don't like Aspergers being considered in terms of mental health problems. Until recently, in our area, It was lumped with severe learning disabilities - which was just as bad.

You could clearly state you're there to ask for for help with anxiety, which although a recognised direct complication of AS, often responds to standard CBT. home measures used to be enough to help dd but now she has the combination of high iq, increased demands, puberty and female gender.

Politely stonewall irrelevant questions, or use then to demonstrate your recently acquired advanced mega-parenting techniques:

yes, I had a little postnatal depression, in our parent support group I recently realised dd's sensory difficulties made her skin so uncomfortable all the time that it even affected my mood... Such a relief to have closure.

Yes, sometimes we argue, we found the Webster Stratton parenting course was quite useful but of course not asd specific enough, so we explain any rows with the comic strip conversation technique.

Good Luck

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGH

i can't find my folder of DD stuff bloody anywhere. bollocks.

I like to think they'll have copies of her original stuff from CAMHS and stuff from school. do you think?

You are probably on your way by now but good luck xx:)

Good luck lady, hope you found your paperwork and that the appointment goes well.

Hi AYsomething? Hope it all went well.

appointment was a bit shite really. same stuff as before. they didn't have the copies of her previous stuff. why?why would they not have thought of that before?
very vague as to what they could do. bugger all from the sound of it. suggested we contact some parent support groups. which was crap as it's not us that needs the suppot, but D who needs help with her anxiety and sttuff.

so -got a follow up appointment in april.

Oh. That's a bit crap. So nothing much for your DD at all? Was it all a bit MH oriented? TBH, I'm not sure there is much out there for ASD type anxieties separate from NT MH issues.

On a lighter note, Chaos is missing you over in chat...

Hi LadyFingers - snap. Had an appointment yesterday with CAMHS, for DS (15) and anxiety issues. Ours sounds to have been better than yours - though we did have the postnatal depression question! - as they were very clear to us both in saying that AS itself is not a MH issue, that there is nothing wrong with having AS, but that anxiety as a secondary issue was something they could try to help with.
The main problem is that they then said it would be discussed at the team meeting later this week, then we would get a letter, and eventually an appointment for something to actually happen, which would all take two to three months. This is from an initial GP referral at the beginning of January, so we're looking at May-June before he gets any practical help. I see another school year slipping by us and I just despair. School are being good enough at doing what they can, but they're a school, not a MH team! It's all about sticking a band-aid over, not actually curing the problem.
So I feel for you, LF.