Anyone else being made to feel like a munchausen mum or am i being oversensitive?

[claw3]

I have just received my long awaited Senior SALT report.

Although she highlights in her report problems when she assessed him at school with attention and listening, verbal comprehension, expressive language, speech sound difficulties, social interaction skills, flexibility of thinking, eating difficulties etc, etc.

Her conclusion states ds is a little boy with a complex pattern of strength and weaknesses. His mother is convinced that he has some kind of ASD and certainly info within the HOME setting strongly supports this as a possibility. It is recommended that ds be referred for a full investigation of his social communication and interaction skills.

I was rather hoping her report would reflect HER opinion, NOT MINE.

I wouldnt be impressed either but then i had a report almost a year ago now thats said soemthing along the lines of "mum says ds as problems with . . . . but i feel important to point out mum has ongoing depressive illness and needs treatment" i complained about this as this was a locum paediatrician who had never met us before and has no access to my medical notes and i have a bit of depression but nothing major and ds does have those problems in everyone elses eyes too except hers, im not making them up!!!!! I hate the was some professionals write as if were making it up etc oh it drives me insane!!!!! i also had a different paediatrcian write on a report for dla (he has never seen us and just wrote based on notes which i got copies of and contain nothing like this) bens problems are very minor but mother has significant post natal psychosis so this may explain things" aaaaaaahhhhhh ive never had psychosis post natal or otherwise and ds has autism and very many associated problems its not in my head at all and if he read the notes instead of making up utter nonsense he would have known that. grrrrrrrrrrr anyway in short yes i totally agree with you xx

FFS im really annoyed her report states things such as:-

Ds seemed agitated and moved around a lot on his chair.

Ds appeared confused and couldnt cope when questions involving any kind of inferring or deducing of information.

Had no concept of before or after.

Couldnt sequence a simple 3 pictures.

Couldnt relate a narrative.

Simple sentence structures, with muddled ideas within them.

Limited conversation skills etc, etc and HER conclusion is that I THINK he is on the spectrum!

maybe she agrees and just worded it wrong?? i hope thats the case anyway, when ds was diagnosed age 2 with no speech no understanding etc so i guess due to age and lack of ability really obvious and we didnt have a salt the paed said mum believes ben may have autism and i agree with her. maybe she is trying to kind of say that but wording it wrong??? i really hope so for you its not nice when they say things like that is it. could you ask her what she thinks it could be to see if she is in agreement and if so then ask her about changing wording?!

Meer - that is disgusting, the bloody cheek of the Paed writing that.

My report also states that my father was a professor of math and a 'loner'!! and that ds broke his arm recently.

My only comment was the pro of math bit when she asked what my father did for a living, she also asked whether he was a very social man to which i replied no. First ive heard about the broken arm too!

oh id be fuming about the broken arm bit!!!! and what men are social really i cant see why that should be relevant to be honest, its a different matter if they asked if you had any family members with autism and they you said yes .... is then put that but people can be "loners" for so many reasons what the bloody hell has that got to do with it!!!!! im not suprised youre fuming i would be too. if it was me id send a complaint letter but then i complain and send letters all the time if things arent right, im a proper moaner!!!

Meer, the thing is im not 100% convinced that ds is ASD. He most definitely has extreme sensory issues and I THINK auditory, visual processing difficulties, i was hoping her report would convince me that he is ASD! OT gave a verbal dx of sensory modulation disorder, which i totally agree with. To be honest im not concerned with what label they put on him, i just want him to get the help and support.

When i asked her outright on the day of the assessment, she told me SHE thought it was highly likely that ds was on the ASD and she also felt he had processing difficulties which she would like investigated further.

will reply properly soon, ds on a mission ill have no house left!!

It looks pretty typical to me, unfortunately!

it's taken us 5 years and full blown meltdowns in appointments for other professionals to finally report that ds appears autistic rather than MUM thinks he is autistic!

I have foudn that my opinion has been quoted a lot on reports. I don't think it is entirely a bad thing, but it would have been more helpful if they had quoted reported facts rather than simply opinions.

Go and tell the paed what the SALT told you off the report.

I swear sometimes we should tape record these sesssions!

Chops, i had high expectations of this report, that will teach me! Why does everything, even something as simply as a sodding report have to be so complicated!

God if any other profession couldnt do something as simply as take accurate notes and state facts, they would be sacked!

Right rant over i will email her and ask her to remove broken arm comment (i have no idea where that came from)

If i state for the other comment 'Your conclusion states 'mother is convinced X has some kind of ASD and information from within the home setting strongly supports this as a possibility'. Although i suspect X could be on the spectrum, i am not 100% convinced and by no means an expert and was hoping for your opinion, based on your findings and observations. Does that sound ok?

Yep, I think that sounds very good.

Wonderfully restrained considering.

Hope you get a good response back.

oh should i explain, that i am often made to feel like i am making a fuss about nothing and comments such as 'mother thinks' are really not very helpful. Or will this be taken out of context and quoted as 'mother is paranoid'!

But don't you think that taking into consideration the parents views is paramount?

Any professional sees a child for a few minutes in an unnatural environment. You have him/her for 24/7.

No, I'd say that you are being paranoid for thinking they will think you are paranoid.

Tell me to shut up if you disagree!

I think that would defo be interpreted as mother is mad paranoid.

I wouldn't risk it tbh. You could jsut request that your opinions are left out of reports. As you want an objective approach to finding the best support for your ds. ?

Meltedmincepies looks over shoulder who said that!

I almost fell off my chair, a parents view is paramount, are we talking about on this planet!?

Sorry I have namechanged for Christmas

Surely with a lot of medecine, opinions have as much weight as empirical science.

And as the primary carer, your opinions should be taken into consideration!

Ds salt report kept using the word complex ( and underlining it). I understood this to be her way of flagging up the need to look beyond ds language delay so the paed took notice. The OT did similar with ds poor coordination/motor planning. It is my understanding (though I may be out of date) that salts cannot diagnose ( only recognise)asd or other broader than language health conditions. Her report is however drawing attention to her findings and your concerns (not just one setting). You know your child well and the salt report (IMHO) is supporting you in suggesting looking beyond language.
I too find the system whereby professionals cannot say what their findings might point to cumbersome - its almost like code!!

Chops - I was only kidding, i sent what i originally stated and have had a response already, im impressed!

She stated 'the end meant really that the history you gave fitte ASD ..i am sorry if you read it that way...parenst are the key people in terms of getting info re vj=kids and hence what i awrite v..it was nit meant toi read that you were thinking ASD and i was not. I will amend and send out again' (copy and pasted)

I lied through my teeth and replied 'Thank you very much, that would brilliant. I did think that was what you meant when i read it, but thought others might find it confusing when reading and just wanted to clarify

pins officially paranoid badge on

I'm very slow today! Off to bed soon.

I think this is sort of typical Claw.

Firstly, SALT's cannot diagnose and but they should put in their observations. They look like they support the conclusions you have drawn.

Secondly, this is why I think they will use the 'mum says...' blurb as they are conscious that they do not really know the child, they cannot diagnose, and they want to highlight all relevant issues (not the broken arm ).

Thirdly, I've come to the conclusion that sooooooo much of the whole assessment process is based on what parent's think. Even the ultimate ASD assessment interviews undertaken by psychologists, which lasts only a few hours etc, will be based largely on what parents say. The screening is based on what parents say. There is a vain attempt at objectivity by using standardised procedures which seem only capable of weeding obvious discrepancies between parents and professional's observations. Tis all a pile of poo.

They may as well sit you down say, you look sensible, what do you reckon it is? Save alot of bother!!

Meltedmincepie, You are totally right a parents views should be paramount. But in my experience when dealing with the school, my GP etc i am viewed a over anxious, precious mother, make a fuss about nothing.

Unfortunately some people require evidence from experts and a label before they can relate to the childs behaviour.

Yep i totally understand that a SALT cannot give a dx, was just a bit miffed that only evidence in HOME setting supported this, despite her findings and observations in school.

I thought the wording was misleading. Still she has agreed to put that right, so all is well.

I just meant to point that out as I think that's what makes them so careful about not suggesting it themselves.

Anyway, glad it's sorted.

Starlight, I was wondering whether she had confused him with another little boy she had seen. Ds has never had a broken arm and there was no mention of arms, let alone broken ones!

Perhaps i have someone elses SALT report!

No apology, but she can be forgiven seen as she replied so quickly and the report will be extremely useful, apart from that