Advice needed for GP appt

[stargirl1701]

I have an appt for DD1 in early April with the GP and need advice. DH and I have sought support from the GP and HV previously but do not feel we are being listened to.

She is 5 and half years old. She struggles with transitions and change on a daily basis. She still has acute separation anxiety with both DH and I, but it is more pronounced with me. Last weekend she was hitting, kicking and biting DH and I during a 'tantrum'. The biting is new but this is a daily part of our lives.

She currently sees OT for sensory processing difficulties and SaLT for speech disfluency. We were able to self refer to SaLT and it was SaLT who referred us to OT.

We have completed a 16 week parenting course 'The Incredible Years' as suggested by the HV. Whilst it was useful to speak to other parents who are openly struggling, the course itself contained very little we haven't already tried.

We deferred school entry last year (Scotland) which was accepted and funded by the LA despite DD1 having a Sep Birthday. I was surprised, tbh.

I am a primary school teacher. I have been teaching for 20 years and 5 of those years was as an ASN (Additional Support Needs) teacher. I know that most 5 year olds do not struggle to this degree.

What do we say to the GP in order to get support for DD1? Please help.

I'd tell the GP exactly what you've said here and between now and the appointment, I'd keep a diary and detail daily all the problems/bizarre behaviour etc so he/she can see what you are contending with on a daily basis.

Your GP Practice sounds terrible Miaow. Can you change to a more sympathetic one?

A diary is an excellent suggestion, thank you.

I will get that started.

I will speak to Nursery to see if they can add anything.

Is it worth copying out the pre-school deferral form I completed last year for the LA?

Yes, I can relate to that. She had silent reflux as a baby and I had fight tooth and nail over 7 months before a referral to Paediatrics. By then, she had an ulcerated oesophagus.

I find this GP gatekeeping very frustrating.

It was a video of her screaming during feeds that was the catalyst. I will video again.

I'd say it's worth taking any evidence you've got, the more the better as then the GP will find it harder to fob you off.

My gp was rubbish. I only turned a corner when I saw a locum and came armed with evidence. I wrote a stament, ds teacher wrote a very strong statement of school issues and ds afterschools gave me a statement. Proving behaviour in three environments.