4 Yr. Old Given 4 Differen Diagnosis by 4 Different Therapists

T.,
I don't know where you live, but there is a GREAT child & family psychologist in Newport News. His name is Doug Riley and his number is ###-###-####. He is also the author of "The Defiant Child, A Parent's Guide to Oppositional Defiant Disorder" which is available at Barnes & Noble. He uses a sort of tough-love approach to dealing with these kids and has amazing results.
When my son was in second grade, he was diagnosed with ADHD and ODD. He was suspended from school 10 times that year and we finally had to use a home-bound tutor to finish the school year. Another mom at his school recommended Dr. Riley because he had helped her son.
My son is now in the 4th grade and is an A-B Honor Roll student. He still has moments every now and then where he is defiant, but we work through those using Dr. Riley's methods.
Dr. Riley worked miracles for us. Good luck with your son.
K.

1 mom found this helpful

First of all, and most important, get a thorough neuropsychiatric evaluation. Do NOT go to a specialist--at least not yet. When you take a kid like that to a psychiatrist who specializes in childhood bipolar disorder, guess what diagnosis you'll get? Same when you take him to a specialist in ADHD.

My oldest daughter, now 11, had issues similar to your son's, and what I just told you was the single best piece of advice I got. Of course you're getting conflicting diagnoses--medicine is so unbelievably specialized these days that it is a rare doctor who can see outside his/her own specialized expertise.

Fortunately, you are near two terrific institutions for the kind of testing your son needs: Children's Hospital in Washington DC, and Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Both are superb. Google either, along with the words "pediatric neuropsychology" and you'll find what you need.

My daughter--whose meltdowns were so spectacular that she got us thrown out of a public building in WAshington, DC when she was only 18 months old--was eventually diagnosed with ADHD, and is doing well today. ADHD rarely occurs all by itself, though; there are usually other co-existing issues, like sensory integration problems. Either one, or both, can cause a kid to act like he or she is totally losing his marbles. A good occupational therapist can help if sensory issues are involved. Feel free to e-mail me offline if you need names. Believe me, I've been there. Good luck. T. Content

Our son was diagnosed with pdd-nos (finally) at 5 after a couple of different potential diagnosis. Anyway, the point is to get him help now! Contact your local school system and get the number for the districts Childfind offices. There are free early intervention possiblilities, even without a confirmed diagnosis. Our son started at age 3, almost completely non verbal. He is now in kindergarten and doing great! It is run through the local school systems, and the classes are small (usually @ 6 kids) and they helped us with everything from potty training to speech therapy. It was alot of meetings and at home work for us, but worth every minute! He is a social, talkative, bright child now, at age 6. We are incredibly grateful to his teachers for their dedication and helping us with the tools to help our son improve everyday! I am not sure where you are but I am in Manassas. Feel free to email me if you'd like. I remember how lost we felt in the process. ____@____.com

I just wanted to send hugs your way... sounds like you are having a tough time. I read an article the other week that was discussing bi-polar disorder in children and though I am not in an expert, I think you are wise to have him tested for that. It does sound like that could be what he has, though I have to agree that he may not be diagnosed with that due to his age. My BIL was mis-diagnosed throughout childhood and adolescense with derpession, mood disorders, scziphrenia, autism, and finally, as an adult, ADHD, for which he has been treated for and is doing much better. He was always the disruptive boy in class and often needed to be by himself.

Have you tried your insurance company for a referral to a psychologist/psycho-analyst/psychiatrist? They should be able to ID a few in your area that can help. I see your husband is in the Navy, and I guess that means you are under Tricare?? They should be able to give you a referral to a practitioner in the area. Good Luck.

As a professional school counselor, I have seen many children misdiagnosed. I would suggest talking to your son's peditriacian about autism or Asperger's ( a form of autism that is just coming to light). Please be very persistent becuase many therapists are quick to diagnose and medicate. So many disorders have overlapping symptoms be carefully about a catch all cure.

I am not a psychologist or anything, but I do have a BA in psych and have studied child psych. From what you are describing, it sounds somewhat like Asperger's (which would be under the Pervasive Developmental Disorder category). There is a fabulous child psychologist who works out of CHKD -- Dr. Nadia Wasylyshyn (but most people call her Dr. Nadia). I would call CHKD and try to set up an appointment. Hopefully, she will be able to help you.

Keep trying. My nephew is autistic and it sounds alot like what he goes through all the time. My nephew was diagnosed by Childrens Hospital in Pittsburgh. I just moved here myself, my husband is in the Air Force so I really do not know about any hospitals. Also, being military we know how their healthcare works.

I myself suffer from dysthymia. Wow, what a small world. If you have any more qquestions I can try my best to help.

Have you gone to Kennedy Krieger? I would set an appointment (will take forever to be seen) and have him evaluated there.
Good luck

My sister is a special needs teacher and has been for over8 years.I also have a niece with sensory integration wich is a form of autism. Having been around childe=ren that are autistic I have come to recognize them even at the grocery store. To me it sounds like your son shows the same signs. I dont't know if you have had him tested but it might be worth looking into. Hope you find some help that you need.

With the severity of what you described, you might want to consider Children's Hospital in DC. They have excellent psychiatric services both in and out patient.

This sounds a lot like he has sensory issues with the random fussiness, issues with crowds and loud noises, and disregard for dangerous situations. It's generally a 4 month wait for an appointment, but call Dr. Frank Aiello. He's a developmental pediatric neurologist. After being brushed off by everyone else, he actually listened to us about my stepson who has autism and sensory integration disorder. He got us the prescription for occupational therapy that made a huge difference. What you describe is very much like what my stepson was going through over the summers when he was not in the early childhood special ed preschool with the frustration and the fits and sensory issues, and the fixation on anything with wheels. If nothing else, take him to your local public school to get him evaluated for free. You can also get him evaluated at Portsmouth, but it's a wait to get in over there too, and friends that have experience over there say you're better off out in town. If you need more information, feel free to contact me.

A.

Call your ped and ask for a recommendation. When we had some issues with our daughter our pediatrician was able to give us names of 3 specialists that she thought could help us.

I am a single mother with a 7 year old son that has been diagnosied with ODD (Opositional Defiant Disorder) also. He gets so extreme that he destroys things around the house and hits/punches me and runs away from me. This is just when he is told something simple to do or when I say no to something he wants. This has been going on for 3 years which has cost me my employment, home life and sanity. He is on the new drug Abilify which seems to help alot. But he still has episodes. It doesn't help that I had to move back in with my parents because I couldn't keep a steady job because of my son's needs and behavoir, but that my mother is Bi-polar also. Sometimes I feel so helpless.

My suggestion would be go to a university that has an educational psychology department. They will probably be the most able to help you with your problem and if not, they would certainly be able to direct you in the right direction.

G.

I am a Craniosacral Therapist, practicing out of the Teal Center for Therapeutic Massage. I have had experience working with children PDD-NOS, separation anxiety disorders and wanted to extend an invitation to explore this work if not with me with an experienced pediatric craniosacral therapist. In my experience, sometimes these tendencies can be affected by or intertwined with dietary sensitivity or a birth related cranial tension.

Try Johns Hopkins.... there are some amazing doctors down there. I have much experience with the hospital and the outpatient center both and I can truly say that every doctor I have ever seen down there has been incredible. They have seen everything, and are the best specialist you can get... people travel from all over the world to come see doctors there so I would say to start doing some research on therapists there.

Oh My Dear. I have had a somewhat similar experience with my now 14 year old son. He was born with an orthopedic abnormality and I was told that "these children" often have frustration and anger issues. Well he was a cranky child and after about the age of 5 he had angry outbursts and had trouble controlling his emotions. He was suspended in kindergarten--Like who does that. The worst years were between 3rd and 8th. He is now in 9th grade and despite a rocky transition, he is somewhat stabilized and has not been suspended yet this year. Now my son was in therapy a few times and has been on medicine since the 4th grade. His diagnoses has been pretty much stable. Please understand that at such a young age, bipolar diagnosis will not be given by a reputable psychiatrist. Most doctors will give a diagnosis of ADD/ADHD, behavioral disorders such as oppositional defiant,a developmental disorder, or a generalized mood disorder nos. So what I'm saying is that you may need to pay the money to obtain the correct diagnosis. I had to pay a "boutique psychiatrist" which means they don't accept insurance, but it was the best thing I could have done. My son has been through a lot and has taken us through a lot but I can say that it does get better with time, age, and patience. Good luck

Since your husband is in the Navy, I'd start there. The Navy hospital should have a social work department who can help you find a child psychiatrist who will accept Tricare. Or, at least contact the Navy Hosp.'s Mental Health Clinic; you might be able to have him seen there. We had our son seen by the Navy child psyciatrist when it was going to take too long to get an appointment with a civilian doctor.

I do not know what type of therapist or where you found him, but if your pediatrician recommends you go through the school district, the school psychologist will evaluate him. Plus it is free. Most school districts have early intervention for special needs children, call the special education office of the district you are in. Start looking online for numbers and go from there.

It sounds to me like he could have Autism. My oldest was originally diagnosed with Hyperactivity then PDD-NOS, finally Autism. Autism trumps all the others. Good luck and let me know how it goes.