New here... questions

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2003
New here... questions
5
Thu, 04-26-2007 - 10:18am

I have a 6 y/o daughter. She has always been considered a little "off" by family and friends. In September '06 after MONTHS of begging the drs to help ME help my child, they finally started throwing terms at me... first was ODD (oppositional defiance disorder) I didn't agree with this at ALL, so we started taking her to a psych. After three visits he diagnosed her manic and ADHD. We started on Rispedal, for her outbursts (screaming, slamming things, breaking things, hurting herself, etc)


Its almost May, so she's been on these meds for a good 6 months. We've also tried three (just started the third) meds for the "adhd" Currently she is on Adderal... it does NOT HELP.


I had a friend suggest to me that she thought DD may be on the autistic spectrum...


so, my q is, will you all tell me how you went about getting a correct dx and how are you dealing with this? These are our symptoms/problems


she can't have a conversation. If you are talking to her she will just come out of left field with an answer that has NOTHING to do with anything. For example... I was talking to her about calming down in the water, I finished what I was saying and said "do you understand me? tell me what I just said" and her response was "I think we're having pb&j for lunch tomorrow" Or we'll be sitting there at

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Thu, 04-26-2007 - 10:39am

Sunshyne,


Welcome to the board.

-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2003
Thu, 04-26-2007 - 10:43am

Thanks :)


We are in the military so luckily, they usually pay for anything! I just have to stomp my feet and get it done. Its hard because I KNOW she needs something, and I don't know how to do it... I ...oy, tears... find myself wanting to just run away sometimes because I DON'T KNOW how to help her... DH and I get into the biggest fights because I lose my temper, and he gets upset with me.


Do you have any advice on how the mommy and daddy can change THEIR behaviour to help the child? I am so down with this... its so hard


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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Thu, 04-26-2007 - 12:20pm

Do you have any advice on how the mommy and daddy can change THEIR behaviour to help the child?


-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-22-2003
Thu, 04-26-2007 - 12:45pm

Hi Sunshyne...welcome to our little corner of cyberspace.

I have to agree with Paula on this one. Many of the things you're saying could be considered red flags. To be honest with you, your 6 year old daughter has a lot of similarities to my 6 year old daughter...the reading vs. writing (our daughter can read on a 4th grade level, but writing is a huge challenge for her), the food issue (our daughter will only eat 8 foods and no, that's not an exaggeration), the loud noises (our daughter cannot tolerate being in the same room as a vacuum because she's afraid it may get turned on), and the conversational skills (or rather, lack thereof). You're right to be concerned, and your friend did a good thing by suggesting that perhaps there's something more going on.

I get the impression that, because your daughter has outbursts-you mentioned hurting herself, throwing things, etc.-the medical community is focusing on those issues because they're probably the ones that are causing you, as her mom, the most stress. Does that make sense? When, in reality, it's probably all the other problems (difficulty communicating, sensory issues, etc.) that are causing your daughter to have outbursts. Or, as we refer to them, meltdowns. I see from your profile that you're in San Antonio. I just did a Yahoo search and found that there is a place called Autism Treatment Centers in San Antonio. It looks like they do diagnostics. There is also a place called One For Autism. If it were me, I'd make some calls, tell them your concerns, and go from there.

As far as what can mom and dad do?...that tough to say since you haven't gone through the evaluation process. But if I had it all to do over again, I'd start educating myself right away. I'd also encourage you to be patient and be prepared to be a detective. The vast majority of my day is spent trying to figure out what "sets off" my two spectrum children. But learning what triggers the behaviors, you'll be better prepared to pick your battles (the hardest,and yet, one of the most important thing we can do as parents), focus on what's really important, and get your daughter the help she needs.

Good Luck~
Amy

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-06-2003
Thu, 04-26-2007 - 8:18pm
idaphne63


Edited 6/5/2007 9:45 pm ET by idaphne63