Okies am seriously none technical so got a question for yous :o)
HOW can i get a pic of me made small enough to fit into the box at side telling people stuff about me????
Just tried to add a pic in there of me and it was HUGE, well not so much huge as bloomin MASSIVE lololol...Any instructions on how to reduce size of the pic to reasonable proportions must be explained in numptie language thanks <ggg>
Jobsworths don't you just hate them...You know the type stick ridgidly to the rules etc...Well i phoned the surgery this morning and got through at 8.28am...Now i know they don't open for taking appointments for that day until 8.30am but hey i was only 2 mins early and really needed the appointment...Well i got this snotty receptionist who told me to phone back in 5 mins when it was 8.30...I said excuse me but going by teletext it is now 8.29 and by the time we finish this call it will be past 8.30...She repeated phone back in 5 mins when it is 8.30 and i said sorry your clock is slow...Anyway she eventually hung up on me at 8.31am...Boy was i angry and immediately started redialling...Had my finger on the redial button for 15 mins <sigh> ...Got through HURRAH!!!!...Asked for appointment with specific GP got told yes there is one at 10.30 said i'll have it...Got told sorry it's just gone :o( But they did have one at 10.40 so took it...So i came online to do some support group work to keep me awake and then left to get the bus round...Not fit to drive today...Now bearing in mind i left here at 10.10 i got there at 10.45 by time on my mobile phone LOL...GP isn't that far by bus just a lot of roadworks and every set of traffic lights being at red, typical when you are in a hurry...Got glowered at a bit by receptionist but i just smiled <ggg>...Well their clock was 5 mins slow LOL...
GP is in his own words 'PISSED OFF' with what has happened regarding the referral...He reads it as both an insult on my parenting skills and his judgement as a GP...This GP has know both boys since they were born...He knows the whole history over the years and quite frankly is in more of a position to pass judgement than stupid clinical psych who rejected the referral...He is angry because he sent the referral to child & family PSYCHIATRY not psychology...He fails to see how seeing youngest 4 times and me 3 times over a 9 month period is considerable psychology input...As we both said we would dread to think what a small amount of input would be...As my GP says i have been dealing with the ASD for 13 years with both boys...My parenting skills are not crap...What this woman said school use is what i use at home and the age he is at the techniques are going to begin to stop being so effective...Am not some new parent who doesn't have a clue in fact i probably know more than the psychologistdid...Oh and the reason he was referred to clinical psych before she didn't address that problem...Because in her words his autism would get in the way of methods she could use...It was also her who brought up the idea of medication (which she can't prescribe)...As for there being NO CHANGE in his presenting difficulties my GP reckons she also appears to want me hospitalised or worse...So now my GP is going to write again requesting a FULL PSYCHIATRIC assessment...For one thing he was diagnosed when he was 6 a lot has changed in him over the last 8 years...IF he does have some ADHD on top of the autism then we want to know properly and not just it being bandied about...Also there is a place he can go to for help with behaviour and get techniques that will suit his autism but we cannot go there without being referred by a psychiatrist...Are these people up there stupid...Can they not read...Why when you are a parent of a child with special needs do they call foul on your parenting skills but wouldn't dare if you were a parent of a so called "normal" child...Am i being over sensitive...Maybe a little but my GP doesn't think so...He happens to think i have done a bluddy good job with both my sons over the years...Am also one of the few parents i know in my position who are not on any medication themselves to help them cope ie: anit depressants etc...So am keeping the appointment i have with the GP on 18th July just in case i need it then...By then hopefully we will have heard back from psychiatry and if not i will need that appointment...If they refuse too then i will go down route of contacting local MSP and taking it from there...Got contacts there anyway and i WILL exploit them if the need arises <ggg> ...I will fight for anything i believe my children need and i know i have full backing from my GP...He is excellent and i have been told by other professionals that he is the best GP to see here if you have a child on the autistic spectrum...
Youngest has just got back home from school and today he had a swimming gala...His school won overall with 145 points :o) ...He himself won one of his races YIPPEE!!!!...So he's a happy bunny and am well chuffed for him...they didn't get medals at this one though so none to add to his collection LOL...
Oh whilst i was at GP i did ask if there was any viruses or bugs going round as i feel like i have been hit by a ten tonne truck...It's gastric flu...Luvely NOT lol...It isn't lasting long so tomorrow i should be on way to recovery...Just as i had began to get fitness up at the gym am gonna be back to square one LOL...Oh well i can still sit cross legged something i haven't been able to do for years due to knackered knees...Toodle pip xx
Got a call from school GP yesterday in response to my call to school...she thought it had been that day but i said no was on thurs...Asked for a copy of her referal and she said no problem :o) ...She thought i had been sent a copy of the letter she got told her no my GP had sent a copy to me of the response he got back...Apparently a copy of the letter she got has been sent to GP!!!...Want to know where mine is after all am only the parent here <sigh> ...Usually these letters get copied to the professionals involved, medical records AND the parent...Turns out they wrote to her on 4th may and my GP only got a reply to his referal on 18th may!!!...Told school GP how pissed off i am...She said she had asked his teacher if there was any problems at school and got told not really!!!...Hmmmmm wonder why school keep phoning me saying X,Y,Z has happened and could you tell us how to deal with it...School GP had said in her referal that there had been incidents at respite...School GP is now going to talk to the new psychiatrist at the hospital who has a specific interest in special needs later next week...She did say that getting medication prescribed could be a no go as they only see that as a very last resort...I said so do i and i only want a psychiatrist to see him in case we do need to go down the last resort path DUH...She also asked me as i have 2 on the spectrum had i ever considered having genetics tested out...Now both boys went to same assessment centre and to the special needs nursery school they have there...They were both tested for fragile X etc as a matter of routine and everything came back as normal...I did say i have never been asked and that did surprise me BUT there would be no point...What is the point in testing the genetics from one side of the family only!!!...My ex lives in america and even if he did live in the UK he would refuse point blank...He does not like people 'messing with his head'...He did not like people 'messing with his childrens heads'...I also told school GP that none of my nieces and nephews on my side of the family have any special needs...I have 42 first cousins and none of them nor their children have any autistic spectrum disorders...However on their fathers side of the family they only have 2 cousins...One has dyslexia inherited from his dad, the other has it too but not been tested yet...BUT the older one has dyspraxia...The younger one his school keep saying he is unique and they have never come across a child like him before...Well i know i am not qualified to do a diagnosis BUT i have come across a child like him before...I LIVE with 2 of them...I know my ex's family will refuse to cooperate with any genetic testing <sigh> ...A friend i spoke to her son goes to an independant special needs school...He gets all different kinds of therapies there...She told me to ask own GP about having youngest refered there for the counselling therapy they do for behaviour...He doesn't have to attend that school you can access some of the therapies without having to be a pupil...Friend and me have same GP and she said to tell him who mentioned it...I do have an appointment for GP but it's 18th july!!!!...Will be phoning on mon for a cancellation...School GP is going to phone my one too...Hope i can get in see him before she talks to him...After all our GP has known both boys since they were born...He knows more about our family than school GP who only known him for a year n half...
Daughter is not well and hardly sleeping...Eldest lad been unwell since thurs evening and still has a temperature...I have to go out tonight so hope they both going to be okies...Tonight is the Brian McFadden concert that am taking youngest to see...Weather is dry at mo and fingers crossed is still dry later as we are going to have to queue to get decent seats...He hates queuing but he can listen to his music on MP3 player...Oh and music is beginning to work again on keeping him calm :o) ...Oh and that was something school used not me!!!!...Now that's a laff n half i've been using music as a tool for controlling his autism since he was diagnosed EIGHT years ago duh!!!...Anyways must go have a bath soon and get ready for the concert...Toodle pip xx
Well am now back to where i started when i started doing this journal...I started the journal so i could keep a record of what was going on with youngest with regards to referal and what was going on at home, school and respite...Take note all THREE places...As anyone who has been reading the journal for a while will know i got my own GP to refer youngest back in april...Got a letter from my GP today and am now mega angry, pissed off, upset and lots of cossable words...Am so angry i actually swore on phone to my mum and i NEVER swear in front of her...She doesn't approve but she let me off today as she understood why...Child & family mental health have TURNED down the referal from the GP :o(
Reasons being:
a) They also had a referal from school GP....I now want a copy of that referal and i want to know what was said...If school GP says NO then i will demand it under Freedom of Information Act
b) I have had a considerable amount of clinical psychology input in the past...Eldest son had when he was under 5 and was also seen to be reassessed in oct 2002 for Record of Needs being opened...Daughter was along a few years back due to being refered on from another counsellor due to the problems she had when her father walked out (she became suicidal )...Youngest had some input from nov 2003 until aug 2004...At which time his file was meant to be kept open for another 6 months but was closed on 1st sept 2004...I know am crap at maths but i know aug till sept is 1 month not 6 <sigh>
c) The clinical psychologist he saw previously has now decided his problems are due to his home enviroment and she agrees with school GP that respite would be more appropriate...So basically she is saying am a shite mother and there are no problems elsewhere...She says there are none at school and school have coping strategies in palce which i refuse to implement at home...CRAP...He gets time out at home, i use music to calm him down and it has ALWAYS worked in the past up until late jan this year...the strategies used at school are ones i SUGGESTED because i use them at home...Only last week at parents night i got asked if i had any ideas for them to use on incidents that are happening at school and have started happening RECENTLY...I want to see school GP referal letter as i want to know exactly what she put in it with regards to respite...Yes i would love more respite but it doesn;t grow on trees...I talked about what was going on with the school GP and she agreed that he needed seen and urgently...
d) As there has been NO change in youngests presenting difficulties and i have difficulty in engaging their type of approach then they have refused the referal...Well excuse me for thinking that him punching me in the throat was not a significant change...Maybe next time i will have my daughter phone NHS24 and get someone out to see me as she cannot drive and obviously i wouldn't be fit to take myself up to A&E...Forgive me also for thinking that picking up a coffee table and throwing it at one of the workers at respite was not a significant change either (she had to go get her arm x-rayed in A&E)...Forgive me please for wanting help for my son before the police have to be involved and he ends up in prison when he is older :o(
At the end of the letter it does say please do not hesitate to get back in touch if we want this discussed further...Well too right they will be contacted...I did NOT want him going back to see the clinical psychologist he saw last year anyway...She was useless and to me showed no understanding of autism at all...some of the strategies she wanted to use he did not understand and are entirely unsuitable for someone with autism...He will say YES to anythign he's asked if not worded in a manner he can fully comprehend...IF i do not get any satisfaction then i will go higher and there will be formal complaints going in...It is a long time since anyone in some postition of authority has turned round and basically called my parenting skills crap and it hurts...I know am not but for someone to think that really does upset me...There has been a big change in his behaviour since january and neither me, respite nor school can work out what the trigger has been...Every time in the past the trigger has been spotted and then it has been dealt with as we knew why...I do wonder if clinical psych would sit up and take notice if i was actually dead as a result of youngest's actions :o( ...Maybe i should write a letter to be kept somewhere safe advising my family to sue them in the event of that possibility...I know it's possible because hey being punched right in the throat or strangled could result in that...Back in april when he did that i could barely breathe for quite a while and was left with a sore throat for days after...Anyways it is late am angry and i should go get some sleep...Am at GP's tomorrow for smear <yuk> so will take letter and beg them to fit me in an appointment on mon or tues...Am waiting on school to phone back too...Toodle pip xx
