Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Tell me about your child with anxiety

A neuropsych can do the widest battery of tests, and that's probably what you want: a wide net to catch anything that's there.

I just posted a list of tests used in AS diagnosis on another thread last night... many of these would also be given if anxiety or ADHD were a concern.

DeeDee

Yes, I would like her to be as thoroughly assessed as possible--wide net for sure.

What is the difference between a neuropsych and a developmental ped?

In my (limited) experience: the neuropsych is mainly for testing. They know all the tests available, decide what to deploy, and are expert in reading the results and diagnostic work. They should be able to sit with you for some hours after the testing, tell you exactly what they found and what it means. They should generate a nice written report that helps you get services if you need them.

We use a dev ped for ongoing skilled care for DS9 with AS. She is in charge of meds, and she is in contact with his case supervisor/therapist to talk about what we are seeing and what needs to be addressed; they work together. She knows things a pediatrician would not dream of, she's seen and treated zillions of kids with DS's type of issues-- she is the ongoing expertise that helps us steer treatment.

In your shoes, for the eval, I'd look for a neuropsych who's seen tons of girls with AS, preferably also gifted and ADHD, so they're used to differentiating. Based on what I've seen in your posts, I'd want someone with lots of AS kids in their experience, as that's the hardest differential diagnosis to make in a gifted girl. (i.e., they get missed/underdiagnosed most). That way, if they rule it out, you're sure.

HTH,
DeeDee

Thanks for your help!

FYI: We are trying to find a play therapist to help with dd's anxiety and it is really hard to get a good referral. Names from pediatrician and neurologist but no parent to give me feedback based on experience. Being burned on a neuropsych eval was bad enough but I can't risk dd seeing the wrong person in this context. Anyone have advice on questions to ask or good ways to vet a child psych? It was suggested that I find someone to do EDMR play therapy with her but I just keep hitting a brick wall trying to find that too. Lots of names on a list but who wants to risk the unknown with your already anxious child?

Pemb, can you get them to give you a parent-only intake interview, so you can evaluate them a bit?

Is there a local parent support group you can turn to? Often other parents will tell you the real deal.

Does your pediatrician have anyone s/he recommends?

Our experience with psychologists is hit or miss, sorry to say...

DeeDee

Unfortunately we have totally lost faith in our pediatrician and are looking to make a change so don't really trust her recommendations at this point. No parent support group that I can find. Ironically when we lived in a much smaller community with many fewer resources I knew the good ones because of my job but didn't have a kid. Here there are literally hundreds to choose from and I have no way to tell the good from the bad.

Bleh...

Pemberley, I think you should make your best guess and interview one. You are developing some serious radar. You'll find one who suits; whether it's on the first guess or the last of several, who knows...

DeeDee

Pemberley, it's really tough finding a good fit for a counselor, even when you have recommendations from people you trust - because kids can be so very different, as well as their individual needs. We had a tough time finding a good counselor for our ds - not that we couldn't find good counselors, but he just really didn't like the first two we went to. In each case, we knew other families who'd used the same counselors for their children and had really positive experiences, we met (parents) with the counselors for the first session and had a good chance to think through if this person would work out, and we honestly believed that each counselor we tried would be a good fit for our ds. The first two just didn't work out because ds never found a groove with them and he didn't like to go to his sessions. Finally on our third try we found a counselor ds actually gelled with - but with the others we just had to send ds and find out afterwards that it wasn't going to work.

Ironically, our youngest dd is going through extreme anxiety this year and as we've gone through trying to choose a counselor for her, we finally decided that the best fit for her is... the first counselor we tried with ds and who was just an absolute disaster for him - but dd and ds have two very different personalities, and we think dd will respond to her much better than ds did.

Anyway, I agree with DeeDee - make your best guess and interview.

polarbear

Update: DD's ped gave me two scales for her to complete (the MASC and the CDI) for anxiety and depression. Looking at them, I actually suspect she will score higher on depression. We also have a psychologist referral. I am not sure this is the right direction to go, but the psych should be able to refer us if a broader eval is needed.