Initial Paediatrician appointment on 2nd January -help me get the most out of it.

[Lougle]

So DD2 (5.4) has finally got an appointment for Paed assessment. It's the Paed DD1 sees (specialism in neurodevelopment/autism).

Physical symptoms of tummy ache around belly button. I'm not sure if it's physical or emotional. However, she was awake for 3 hours last night with tummy pain. She's made an association between tummy pain and vomiting, so she wouldn't go to bed because she hadn't been sick yet . She's had 18 days off sick since 22nd October.

Also complains of headache (makes her head feel 'fizzy') and is very lethargic - she can't complete a trip to a supermarket without asking to be carried or sitting down and refusing to move. When my homestart volunteer comes, she's choosing to sit down/lie down while her sisters play.

Before the Paed appointment we have got some blood tests ordered:

TTG (Coeliacs); CBC (Full Blood Count); Vit B12; C Reactive Protein; Ferritin; Serum Folate; Fasting Glucose; Liver Function Tests; Thyroid Function Test; Urea and Electrolytes; Vitamin D.

They are also doing a general stool culture and a specific culture for Helicobactor.

However, there is also the developmental side, which is my main concern. She seems to have disordered language, some rigidity of thought, is finding the adaptation to year 1 hard, etc.

I have been writing notes of things she has been saying (for instance, I asked her if she had lost something, and she replied 'Mummy NO! Promise me I didn't lose it. I don't lose things). I have written a list of concerns.

What should I be asking in particular? I don't want to waste this appointment.

BTW, if it seems odd that I'm asking, it's because when DD1 was seen all I said was 'DD1 has been falling over for no reason....' - everything else came after and now she's in special school

Going on my experience of my sons paed appointment, they will be asking you a tonne of questions about your childs developement going right back to the pregnancy! also family history.

If I knew then what I know now, Id probably have had a look through his red book to remind myself of when he reached his milestones eg babbling [or not] first steps etc etc.

Write a list of the things that are concerning you and if they dont come up during the questions, mention them.

Good luck.

Also with my son, the questions ran way over our time slot [2 hours] so we made another appointment a few weeks later, we finished the questions then and I had remembered more stuff to mention by then too.

Thanks, amberleaf. I don't know how long our appt will be.

A few examples of her language - how would you describe it?:

"Mummy will you tell Daddy and Daddy tell the children that is DD1 and DD3 that they must be quiet because I am sleeping?"

"Mummy, please promise it was an accident!" (When she had spilled tea on her Granddad)

"I wanted to take my camera because I wanted to look for birds on the ground. If there was birds I would take a picture."

(Jasmine, have you lost a cardigan?) "I desperate not! I don't lose things."

Lougle, everything she says sounds like a poem. Or perhaps an Oscar Wilde play or something similar. Obviously literary talent doesn't rule out asd, but it would surely be a favourable prognostic sign . She has such a good ear for the rhythms of speech, that the 'sense' perhaps comes out mixed up. And the word-finding difficulties maybe contribute to her lovely, original descriptions.

Alongside speech therapy, I would consider some English hothousing...

And far more importantly, do what justa says re the appointment

Mummy, will you tell Daddy
And Daddy tell the children
That is dd1 and dd3
That they need to be quiet
Because....

I
Am
Sleeping!

She has caught Lola.

What an absolute darling, however worrisome. No help, I know. Hope you get some sensible referrals out of the appt.

So maybe I am worrying about nothing and she is a future poet laureate?

Make sure you have copies of all the results for your own files. My ds's were frequently described as "no significant abnormality" but on close inspection there were significant abnormalities and spikes. But you prob will need to comb through them all your yourself unless something bigger stands out.

Dont get signed off, if they try, then say that you need all the help you can get as you might still need that contact in the future. My ds was under paed until age 19 and I was able to get referrals easier than via GP.

I did similar tests for my ds in the past and even tho celiac blood was neg, we still did diet trial gluten free and were blown away, massive changes in speech, lang, motor etc, wouldnt look back.

You're not likely to worry about nothing, unfortunately. But a dash of asd phenotype is very common in writers, seems to help

[wonders if it's possible to get slt via school action plus whilst also being put on the area schools consortium G&T programme for English....]

Yes it is.
Dd2 had slt from birth and at 9 is being supported to write her first book. they tried to get her to do it last year but she had terrible writer's block...

Wow DD2 may have a way to go yet, though

It ain't all joy.

And they should never have put her in the choir, ffs. There is a limit to inclusion...

Hahahahaaaaa @ 'limit to inclusion'. DD1 is meant to be learning the song from 'The Snowman.' Her teacher (SN School) said today:

'We've got as far as 'We're walking in the aiiiiiiiiir. We're walking in the..mnoinwenwernownernrwe'

I think her teacher sounds as though she's on the right page.

They used to give dd2 some sort of percussion instrument in her last school at performance time. Weirdly her timing for that sort of thing (despite having all sorts of motor issues) was perfect. It was far kinder for all concerned.

The tragic thing is, dd2 loves music. She has been begging to learn the guitar for three years, and we finally succumbed in September. It is an unmitigated disaster, but her teacher is lovely. I am now resigned to paying for lessons forever, despite little to no hope of anything recognizable (including a single chord) resulting.

She's obv going to write the songs, not the tunes.

On the point raised up thread, ds tests neg for coeliac etc, but also has amazing results on gluten free. It's v odd. He doesn't test high enough for asd dx, but is ADHD with asd traits... The Natasha Campbell-McBride stuff is an interesting read.