Letter to behavioural psychologist, this ok?

[woolleybear]

Hi, my daughter is 8 and previously the GP and school have suggested that she may have adhd but have not been keen to push for a diagnosis. School have now decided they would like a behavioural psychologist to see her in school and have asked me to write to them with our concerns, I have written the below but have no one to read it through to, does it sound ok? What is a behavioural psychologist likely to do? Diagnosis? Suggest/provide help?

Thanks

Our concerns about X include: extreme anxiety which can stop her going places for example school, and an inability to voice her worries; tantrums including prolonged screaming and sometimes violence (including head butting, kicking, pulling at clothes) when she perceives things are not going her way; an inability to cope with change, for example a lesson changing to a different day or different time (for example this week she felt sick during singing practice, because it was the time when it was normally DT).
She finds the transition from one lesson to another difficult at school, particularly if she has not finished a piece of work from the lesson that is finishing.
She has recently found it hard to leave the class to do her music lesson.
She also is prone to "feeling ill" if things are not going her way, be it one of her peers upsetting her in the playground or one of her teachers suggesting she do things differently
She has a lack of respect for/lack of understanding of, authority. She doesn't see that her teacher/parent can say things to her that she cannot say back.
Absolute defiance, if she does not want to do something, get dressed for example, there is no amount of praise/promises/threats/punishment that will make her do it.
At times X has trouble sleeping and tiredness seems to make her issues worse, including her anxiety, which in turn then makes it harder to sleep.

X has recently experienced the upset of her parents splitting up and whilst this is having a large impact on her, all the above issues were in existence before this happened.

Thank you, school has said she does not need an educational psychologist as she is ahead academically, that's why it is a behavioural psychologist.

I'm not fussed either way about a diagnosis, I just want to be able to help her/ get some help for her, both at home and school. If the psychologist says that needs a diagnosis then we will go to GP again.

Thanks for comments on letter, will have a play around with it.

school has said she does not need an educational psychologist as she is ahead academically

In law, they are wrong on this. Lots of very bright people have special needs and are entitled to help so that their class work reflects their real ability. If their real ability is A* then it is not enough to say "she doesn't need help because she has a B.

If your dc has difficulties with attention, then an ed psych will sort out ways of teaching her that reduces the impact of her attention issues on her learning, whether that is reducing distraction through work station learning, or shortening sentences and instructions to be sure that she has taken it all on board. Ideally he would also come up with some strategies to increase her attention span.

Oh, and just in case this rings some bells.. for some kids, their inattention is caused by sensory issues, eg oversensitive to noise, (think of 30 pages turning, 30 noses sniffing and 60 feet shuffling in the class). Or a craving for sensory stimulus such as pressure - so kids may seek strong pressure eg pressing down in the palm of the hand, or seeking a hug, or with older kids pushing open a weighted fire door. We are getting to understand sensory issues better now, and a good sensory OT may be able to suggest in-class therapy that can help dc to maintain a calm alert state.

Letter looks great - they like lists/bullet points like you have - it is easier than a long paragraph.
Good Luck

Thank you both, we have visited school and the GP many times with dd and the GP have been so reluctant to help so hopefully this will be the start of better things!

Senvet, her attention is generally not too bad, she frequently goes the other way and gets very engrossed in a task and refuses to leave. She does have some sensory issues around clothing and noise so I will put these in as well, thanks.

Fwiw I think her issues sound more Asd/Aspie than ADHD! I wondered if you might want to slightly change the wording where you have put "when things arent going her way" maybe put when sudden changes occur or when she feels anxious or when she feels that she needs to control a situation!

Its just nit picking really but I worry that "when things dont go her way" could be percieved as bad behaviour, not a child with anxiety/sensory issues which your Dd seems ti have!!

And could it be a clinical psychologist? The do lots of behaviour stuff!?

Good luck anyway

Thank you, that would be much better wording! As she has got older her impulsive/hyperactive stuff which caused the thought of ADHD has calmed, or we are just used to it, but perhaps I need to put in about those things too even though we have coping strategies. Some days she still gets impulsive but I can recognise that quite well and keep a hold of her when out or a close eye at home. The hyperactivity we try and cope with by having lots of physical activity and she has got much better in the last year or do at being able to sit still, and g's even given up her "fiddle thing" she used to have to hold when reading etc.

Unfortunately at the moment, lots of people think that she is just badly behaved, particularly other parents, which makes things worse.