I hate the Griffiths scale

[sc13]

DS had his yearly paed appt today. Last year it was a MDA and he got a dx of ASD. Today I thought it was going to be a celebration of what he's done so far and where he's going to, sort of thing. But no. Griffiths scale in its most undiluted form. No matter his attention span does not extend to the 45-50 minutes required, and he doesn't understand quick, rather abstract questions from a stranger. They asked us nothing about how we think he's doing.
DS has learnt to say 'sorry' when he sees that mummy is cross (communication, recognition of facial expression FFS)? Not interested. Can he draw a ladder for the doctor? NO!
DS now takes turns with the other children at nursery? Not important. Can he pick out the middle cube from a row of cubes? NO!
DS, thanks to the calendar suggested here on MN by moondog and lingle, now understands today, tomorrow, and next week/month? Doesn't matter. Can he use his knife and fork together? NO!
Measured, weighed and found, obviously, wanting. DH philosophically says perhaps they'll give us more OT now. I am fuming, and can see exactly where some of you (esp. lingle) are coming from re. some of those diagnostic tools...

My daughter can draw a ladder..I would MUCH rather she could take turns or say sorry.....don't blame you for being upset.

I went to collect DD from nursery yesterday and they were all excited and whispered to me to come and watch what she was doing..she had lined up some toys and was counting them and flapping her arms (alone )..not really anything to shout about I think!!!

oh god, don't remind me about the sodding Griffiths scale!

yep, I too have sat through too many re-tests, where dd1 loses focus after, oooh 10 minutes (unsurprising isnce she doesn't know what she is being asked) and I had to carry on asnswering "no, she can't do that " (and variations thereon) for the next hour, while talking ot dd1, feeding dd2, tidying up the toys dd1 had scattered everywhere, putting the posters back on the wall, physically holding the door shut while dd1 wrenched it open and said "time to gohome, mummy"

and none of her (many, repeated) attempts at communication were recorded because they were not the appropriate response. neither were her attempts to soothe dd2 when she cried, or her attempts to get a book out of my bag to sit and read it

I am still not entirely sure what the point of the griffiths scale was - I never actually got asked a question I could say "yes" too, even when I had previously answered "no" about something dd1 went on to master (eg walking downstairs not hlding on) - why was I never given the chance to positively report skills dd1 had achieved?!

Don't get me started on the shape-sorting, tower-building bit. It was like one of those grainy documentaries from the 60s - all that was missing was for them to measure his head. DS's face when asked to put the toy car down and concentrate on saying what a chair is for, however? Worth the admission ticket alone.

And silverfrog, amen to everything you say. Soothing crying sister? 1,000 points on my sodding scale

It's probably a good thing that I don't know what the Griffiths scale is then..... because it doesn't sound as though I and it would get on too well.........

ah, now you see, I'm sure she got points taken away for that one - dd2 cried, dd1 wandered over, picked up her (dd2's) comfort toy and gave it to her.

(childless) doc says "hmm, rather simplistic view of things. Imean, how did she (dd1) know that was what she wanted?"

WTF?! let's just skip the whole, recognise distress, remember that's what mummy does when she wants 5 more mins on MN dd2 cries, etc etc.

No, doc put it down to dd1 wanting ot stop the noise (well, prob half right, tbh ), and said it was a "learned routine" not genuine empathy.

I so thought of you lingle - officially it's an indicator of development, in practice it's some long list of boxes to tick, for things that are arguably not paramount to a child's wellbeing but have the advantage of being quantifiable.
They even timed DS's speed in doing the shape-sorting, tower-building. He actually did the shapes while she was trying to get the timer to function, then got bored at having to do it again...

ooh, yes, that brings the memories flooding in.

doc got blocks out for dd1 to build a tower (3 colours of blocks, which fitted exactly into same coloured boxes).

got distracted before asking dd1 to do anyhitng with them, and talked ot me about something else.

turned back to dd1, who has dutifully sorted them all out, put them back in the boxes and closed the lids. no comment from doc, who just took them all out again and asked dd1 to build a tower. she did. then she asked dd1 to sort them all out and put them away. you could just see dd1 thinking "why the hell would I bother, I just did that and you tipped themout again" so another no score (both for compliance and ability - apparently the first time dd1 did it it might have been a fluke....)

I htought it was general development, Starlight.

I have hideous memories of a section of questions on walking up down stairs:

1. can she walk up one step at a time
2. can she walk up alternating feet
3. can she walk up one step ata time without holding on
4. can she walk up alternating feet without holding on
5. can she walk down on e step at a time

etc, etc

It is just so bloody depressign sitting there for 90 mins saying "nope, can't do that. or that. or that."

as I mentioned earlier, we never actually seemed ot get to the things dd1 could do

sc13, on the bright side, there's a good PhD in it for people in your and DH's line of work isn't there?

Starlight I think the first part of it -blocks, shapes - is about cognitive ability. That's the only part where DS scores well. The other bits about the socks, the stairs, and the knife and fork, or the drawing or the threading of beads, or what you call this thing, or what do you do when you're tired (a question DS understands in the form 'DS is tired. DS ...', cue expectant face, but not as a straight out question yet) are about other aspects of development.
silverfrog that is not to be believed, honestly. We're back to the theory of mind thing: any other kid who did that, their behaviour would be interpreted as comforting, empathy, what have you. Because the child has a label, they assume that it is a learned routine. I mean, there is actually no proof that the doctor in front of me is not a cyborg with no human empathy who is merely following a pre-programmed routine, is there?

yep, I hear you, sc13. BUt to try to state your case means you are in denial about the extent of your child's problems...

lingle have actually thought about it. Not my period though. Also, hell will freeze over before the system takes on board any deconstruction of all of this stuff
silverfrog I think I am in denial. Instead of focussing on how DS could not explain what a chair was for, I was distracted by how very cute he looked in his green shirt this morning. My sodding scale would also give points for cuteness. I mean, we have evidence all around us, that as long as you are good-looking and have a good manager (which would have to be me), inability to string two sentences together does not have to impede you in life

DS2's very highly scoring on my scale. For a start, that would include cuteness, too, so he's almost off the scale already.

Score for spotting an opportunity? Yep, he just noticed that DS1 had left his pencil case open again and tipped them all over the floor. Genius!

Do his toy cars make engine noises? Yep - he shakes them furiously so they rattle like a clapped out diesel!

Cause and effect AND emerging language skills? This morning, he used his opportunist skills to reach through the open kitchen gate to try and grab the dyson. He only went and got his arm stuck (loses points for that one, silly boy!) This afternoon, he reaches over the gate and waves his hands at the dyson, chanting "No! No! No-teee! No-teee!" (Additional points for cuteness and sweet sing-songy voice and making mummy melt because she's so not used to hearing him talk!)

And I'm thinking how lucky we are with two of them to have been spared this Griffiths scale crap.

Ugh don't ds has appointment with new community. Paed coming up soon
and they told me allow couple hrs for assesment im like arghffs ds has a dx of cp which you bl**dy community team missed and took neuro to dx in oh 5 minutes
so no he can't climb the bloody stairs and or write his name and no he can't talk because has verbal oral dyspraxia ANC no the Gdd tag was wrong see above for why ds can't do and see the private stuff that says non verbal testing showed ds has normal cognitive devlopment so please take tour test and bin it

How much of glare you think I'll get

sc13, have you considered writing in before the next such review to say that you do not consent to DS doing any further standardised tests, as you wish to use the review to report on progress and set sensible targets in all remaining challenging areas?

If you do it in writing, the doc. will have covered his/her back. Who knows, s/he might quite enjoy using the time to enage with you instead (you might teach him/her something)

I don't think it's outlandish to suggest this. My SALT, who is quite traditional, firmly discouraged me from putting DS2 through any formal tests. He has never had a formal language assessment, for instance.

She said that by this point in her career she knew how to get a feel for a child's language, that test results were largely a result of how much children liked being tested, and that tests aren't done for the benefit of the child, but of the curious parent. She said their only real point is getting you a diagnosis or a statement.

yep see we have a diagnosis and statement but new community paed still wants to carry out assements hmm let me see listern to her or neurologist

DS did this test and it was quite encouraging. The doctor's report had quite a few errors including DS's age. It really shows that communication problems, difficulty with temporal calculations, typing etc. needn't be a barrier to working in the health service.