For those of you who've just tuned in, everyone here is a crazy person.

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If you ever want to freak out your boss, wear a dress and heels to your place of work when all they've ever seen you in is jeans. And then mention you have to leave early ... When I was getting dressed I knew there would be commentary; business casual means that dressing up is out of the norm. Poor guy was sleep-deprived from staying up for hockey playoffs and didn't get that I was joking about leaving early ...

So, the results are back from the neurologist and the neuropsychologist, and I'm just ... hell, I don't know what I am. I can see glimmers of Bean in the results, but the negatives are just too negative.

Neuropsych: ADHD and "mood disorder, not otherwise specified (NOS)".
Neurologist: basically just that she's a very smart kid

Now, if I had my druthers, I'd just go with the neurologist's diagnosis and put my fingers in my ears to "la-la-la" my way out of the neuropsych's diagnosis. Because, honestly, I don't want to hear that crap. And I truly don't believe that at her age it has a *ton* of validity ... I mean, yeah, we all have a little crazy that we lovingly nurture and show to the rest of the world from time to time. We're all a little tetched; it's what makes us interesting.

It's so hard to know what to accept, what to believe, what to challenge, what to throw out altogether ... and so much of the diagnostic criteria overlap. How do you know that a single assessment is valid? Just because someone's a professional, does that mean their four-hour view of your kiddo is accurate?

Going forward, there will be a psychologist and a month of 6-hours-a-week OT camp, as well as a switch back to a "regular" preschool, in the hope of better preparing her for Kindergarten. The psychologist thing has been a long time coming, I know. Between the time off work for OT, life in general, denial, hoping it will get better, pursuing diagnoses ... I've got a lot of good excuses. But no more - this summer begins the full-court press.

Wish us luck.
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3 comments:

Howard Levy said...

Yeah, I agree - I wouldn't trust any psych diagnosis on Chloe at her age. I'd wait till she's older to trust it.

Julia said...

True, you'll definitely want Bean reevaluated when she's older, but in the meantime with the labels, she'll qualify for special services in public school. That actually will work in your favor since there are usually strong special ed advocates on campuses.

Vivian said...

Obviously, none of this is easy. And though I'm with you, "what the %&*^?" on that kind of diagnosis at this age. Still, Julia is absolutely right, this is can be a blessing, because it opens doors to all kinds of support for Bean at school. Beyond that, I don't know about TX, but in VA and NY it would open doors of support for you, too. The obvious stuff, workshops on how to "manage" Bean's "unpleasant shifts from her delightful self", and all that jazz. BUT it also means RESPITE CARE, in other words, state funded babysitting. AND you get to use your own trusted babysitters! Just thought I'd throw in a possible, unexpected silver lining.

Also, keep in mind that once you get the ball rolling in the school system, Bean will be on a time line. In 3 years, she will have a complete reevaluation, all the testing, etc. Anyway, this psych diagnosis isn't for forever.

Good Luck Vick.

 
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