Those with kiddos who don't leave the house.......

[devientenigma]

......how do you access hospital appointments and doctors etc? tIA x

At the moment we can only do hospital appointments with both parents - one to talk to doctor and one to prevent child escaping. Even so ds1 managed to escape last week so we had most of the CAMHS office searching the car park for him! - luckily his hiding place had been spotted by friendly lorry driver. After this performance they did offer us the possibility of home visits so worth asking if this is a feasible. To be honest I fail completely to understand why people with professional qualifications in psychiatry and psychology fail to understand that discussing your child's challenging behaviour in front of them is something the child will find extremely distressing.

Some of DSs appointments require machines, I wonder if they are available portable?
He's quite non compliant so can see why they don't want to waste time. DS is 2 to 1 anyway, 3 to 1 when out, so the social worker or home tutor would normally be there too, however it's even getting him to leave the house. One has discharged him due to his refusal to go to the appointments and one will keep him on in case he makes it?!

We have to plan it like a military campaign. It's always a 2 person job. We call ahead at the Dr's and stress to the receptionist that we're coming, remind them that DS will have a meltdown as soon as he's in the building, etc. Its got to the point where they let us in the fire exit (rear entrance) and go straight to the Dr's room so we bypass the waiting area. i take his favourite toys and always something new which I hide and then give to the Dr so she can give DS a 'present' for being so good and actually stepping into her room. Then i explain to the Dr what's wrong while he sits with the other adult as far away from the Dr as possible (usually very distressed) and if we're lucky she may be able to look at, but not touch him. On a good day, it works. On a bad day, we can't get him into the building. I've started to take him past the Dr's more frequently, so the building looses some of it's scariness and we're trialling popping in to say hello to the receptionists for a couple of minutes every few weeks, to try and increase his comfort with the physical environment. it's a long term project.

I often have to take mine wrapped in his fav blanket (fluffy fleece one).

Saved our asses many times, but getting difficult as he's heavy & has to be carried.

It's one of the things I'm dreading. We haven't had to since he's stopped going out, but I have NO IDEA how we would. He's bigger than me, if we did get him into the car how could we travel safely? I'm just hoping that this will pass before we need to..