Cahms

concerned43

esmf73 wrote: »

Concerned43 - Look into Pathological Demand Avoidance Syndrome. The only reason I say this is that it was thought that my son was autistic / Asperger but the diagnosis didn't quite "fit". When I was given information on PDA by my CAMHS lady it was like reading a description of my son. Any help I can give please PM me.
x

Had a look but that does not fit DS.
DS has the following:

Will not look people he does not know well in the eye
Will not communicate with people he does not know well
Does not understand the meaning behind what people are saying i.e. he cant tell if a remark made is a threat, compliment, joke, sarcasm etc
Cannot participate in group work
Quick thinker but slow in communication his thinking
Can not tolerate people for any more than 5 mins
Does not like to play with peers
Does not like anything to do with using his imagination
Can not read peoples faces or decipher what they may be thinking
Shows little/no empathy
Becomes obsessed with one subject and will only concentrate on that.
Finds it difficult to write
Will not read fiction
Has a food fetish - will only eat certain foods and they must be the same brand and purchased from the same store.
Has NEVER slept well and is prone to night terrors
Has high levels of anxiety over silly little things
Prone to panic attacks
Cannot gauge roads and has stepped out in front of cars

Bearing all the above in mind I cannot for the life of me understand why CAHMS have came to the conclusion they have. but then he has never been seen by a physiologist - just a social worker.

wannabehermit

concerned43, sorry can't be of any help, but your experience with CAMHS sounds so similar to that of mine and that which I've read about on a variety of forums.

"I think he may have ADHD, but they won't start assessments for it until he's 7", then when I ask if there's any way assessment could be done earlier (apparently GP cannot refer directly to paed, has to go through CAMHS), I was called a liar (in as many words) and told that there is no way she would have said that. Then more denial since about things that have been said to me over the phone and in person when I've asked for those things to be put into writing.

esmf73, I've just googled PADS and emailed some bits to my DH as that sounds just like my son. THanks.

concerned43

wannabehermit wrote: »

concerned43, sorry can't be of any help, but your experience with CAMHS sounds so similar to that of mine and that which I've read about on a variety of forums.

"I think he may have ADHD, but they won't start assessments for it until he's 7", then when I ask if there's any way assessment could be done earlier (apparently GP cannot refer directly to paed, has to go through CAMHS), I was called a liar (in as many words) and told that there is no way she would have said that. Then more denial since about things that have been said to me over the phone and in person when I've asked for those things to be put into writing.

esmf73, I've just googled PADS and emailed some bits to my DH as that sounds just like my son. THanks.

Done some research and have found a lot of people unhappy with CAHMS.
Have booked an appointment with GP and will submit a formal complaint to CAHMS about our treatment there.

daska

Has your GP ever referred your son to a paediatrician? Take that list along and say you'd like to have him properly assessed for ASD/ADD and please can he arrange it as he's only ever seen a social worker from CAMHS and with the best will in the world she cannot diagnose or rule out an alternative diagnosis. (A general paediatrician can't assess for ASD etc either but he has the remit to coordinate diagnosis, onward referral etc - DS2's paediatrician did his referral yesterday, hooray!) Have to say that we were more than happy with the service we got from CAMHS for DSD.

I was speaking with a lady I know yesterday and having finally got a referral to the specialist they had a professionals meeting where he pulled a letter out of the file saying "Now everybody, I have a letter here from mum describing x's symptoms and requesting that he be properly assessed. This letter was written when he was two. Why is it that no-one referred him to me until he was 14 and how many other children are having their referrals blocked?!" She said she was quite taken aback that he had said this while she was present but, thinking about it afterwards, he was obviously very frustrated that so many non-specialists were taking it upon themselves to rule out a diagnosis that only he could make.

concerned43

daska wrote: »

Has your GP ever referred your son to a paediatrician? Take that list along and say you'd like to have him properly assessed for ASD/ADD and please can he arrange it as he's only ever seen a social worker from CAMHS and with the best will in the world she cannot diagnose or rule out an alternative diagnosis. (A general paediatrician can't assess for ASD etc either but he has the remit to coordinate diagnosis, onward referral etc - DS2's paediatrician did his referral yesterday, hooray!) Have to say that we were more than happy with the service we got from CAMHS for DSD.

I was speaking with a lady I know yesterday and having finally got a referral to the specialist they had a professionals meeting where he pulled a letter out of the file saying "Now everybody, I have a letter here from mum describing x's symptoms and requesting that he be properly assessed. This letter was written when he was two. Why is it that no-one referred him to me until he was 14 and how many other children are having their referrals blocked?!" She said she was quite taken aback that he had said this while she was present but, thinking about it afterwards, he was obviously very frustrated that so many non-specialists were taking it upon themselves to rule out a diagnosis that only he could make.

I hope the GP will be able to refer him, though it was he who referred him to CAHMS. In my research I saw that one can ask for a new team from CAHMS but don't really see the point of this as I do not believe they are properly staffed and play amateur physiology with their clients.
I am currently looking at data protection just now to see if yesterday's meeting breached that.
I now have the school deciding my DS needs to widen his social circle and have moved him in all of his classes today causing much distress to DS - particularly as they are all girls! how dare they decide who my son should be making friends with!!!!:mad:

JC9297

How old is your son?

meritaten

You arent the only one having problems with CAHMS - I know of several other parents who went the CAHMS route who are now being informed that the child has behavioural/attatchment issues.
by sheer coincidence, apparently, CAHMS have been awarded funding for clients who meet this criteria! make of that what you will!
I also know of parents who have paid to go out of area and get a 'second' opinion of diagnosis from a psychiatrist who specialises in child mental health/ASD.
that isnt easy btw, many of them wont touch you if you are under CAHMS (so I have been told - I honestly do not know if that is true).
I would at least ask the gp for a second opinion by a psych specialist.

concerned43

JC9297 wrote: »

How old is your son?

he is 14 and has been seeing his GP since the age of 8 for anxiety/panic attacks and sleep problems.

concerned43

meritaten wrote: »

You arent the only one having problems with CAHMS - I know of several other parents who went the CAHMS route who are now being informed that the child has behavioural/attatchment issues.
by sheer coincidence, apparently, CAHMS have been awarded funding for clients who meet this criteria! make of that what you will!
I also know of parents who have paid to go out of area and get a 'second' opinion of diagnosis from a psychiatrist who specialises in child mental health/ASD.
that isnt easy btw, many of them wont touch you if you are under CAHMS (so I have been told - I honestly do not know if that is true).
I would at least ask the gp for a second opinion by a psych specialist.

I am shocked :eek:- as said they came out with this !!!!!!!! yesterday and its the first I had heard of it - they did not say that he had an attachment disorder - just that he was too attached to me of a boy his age and that I need to get him to grow up and be independent of me. They have failed to grasp (or maybe that should be ignore) the fact that he is dependent on me because he cannot cope!
Don't suppose you have a source for that info do you?

squirrelchops

concerned43 wrote: »

the only reason they have stopped CBT is that my DS asked for it to be in verbal form rather than written work as he finds it difficult to interpret written work, this annoyed the social worker and she can't be bothered with it now.QUOTE]

This sounds an unusual method of CBT if it was written exercises to say the least!!!!

Are you sure it was CBT or was he being given work sheets to look at and complete - I know there are work sheets out there designed for specific areas eg 'keep safe', 'self care skills'. 'exploring relationships' and the like. The methodology of CBT could use this in terms of 'lets explore xxx and then go through how we could make a different choice next time' - however there is absolutely no reason why this cannot be undertaken verbally.

It is also not unusual for initial CAMHS input to be from a qualified social worker - there are varying levels of expertise and specialisms that make up the whole CAMHS service - sounds like your son was undergoing the initial referral process.

As someone else has correctly said this front door CAMHS service would not be able to diagnose asd/aspergers etc. A diagnosis would need to be undertaken by a paediatrician. I have come across some diagnoses being undertaken by a consultant psychiatrist attached to CAMHS but a psychologist cannot do this as it is a medical condition not behavioural.