Well, I took my daughter to her counselor today. For those who don't know, she has been diagnosed

[ejpoeta]

with ADHD and does take ritalin. She is currently on Child Health Plus through Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Well, her counselor asked me if she had ever had any psychological testing done. I explained that we had her tested for ADHD a couple of years ago. She suggested she be tested for Aspergers and that they could do it there. I told her that if she thought it would help, then sure. I thought about if I didn't have insurance... I don't know that I would have her tested. But, I am so glad that we don't have to worry about that....

I wonder about the families out there who have kids they need to get tested for some thing... like ADHD or something else but can't because they can't afford it and they either don't have insurance or the insurance won't pay for it. These things are important, because they can shape a child's life... their whole future. Their ability to excel or learn in school. Their ability to get along in the world. It doesn't mean meds necessarily, but if there is something going on, it is knowledge and a way to deal with it and use it constructively. It means a parent not thinking that they are just a bad parent who can't get the kid to behave or understand... or being a kid who thinks they are stupid or just inadequate or something. Knowledge is power... and the key to fixing something.

[madeline_con]

1. What qualifications dfo those doing the testing have to diagnoseAsperger's? n/t

[ejpoeta]

7. She goes to the mental health clinic where they have several doctors there.

We looked it up when I got home, and she did have troubles with motor skills as well as many of the other things it mentioned. I told her counselor that Emily wasn't around a lot of people since we live in the country. and we would pull her out of things or she would be kicked out when she acted out or would hit other kids. so I just assumed that her social inabilities were just our inability to teach her proper social skills and such. I am not good socially, frankly. I am sure I will be able to meet with the person who will be doing the testing to ask them those questions when we go back in there in a couple of weeks.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

2. A young woman spoke at an event at

Howard University the other day. Michael Steele was the main speaker, and the young woman wasn't a student at Howard University, where the event took place.

She talked about her mother, who had died a few months earlier, of cancer, because she couldn't afford three of the six medications she had been prescribed for her cancer.

Her mother DIED because she couldn't pay for the medication that would have helped her.

Steele mocked her, in as ugly a way as I've ever seen.

Imagine a daughter living her life knowing her mother might have been with her if only she'd had insurance, or a bit more money..............................

[ejpoeta]

4. yeah, let's talk about those 'death panels'... the ones that are already here.

alive and well in the insurance companies. and these republicans mocking people just makes me sick. i swear it makes a person want to smack someone.

[Orrex]

5. I saw that disgusting spectacle.

Not so many decades ago, a politician who made a similarly ugly remark would have been dragged off the stage, tarred, and feathered.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

13. Did you know, or notice (I didn't),

that the first two rows at the event were filled by white male members of the Young Republicans?

At HOWARD UNIVERSITY?

[Orrex]

22. LOL! Nope, I totally missed that!

Nice catch!

:rofl:

[excess_3]

6. what were the three drugs in question? .nt

[Tangerine LaBamba]

14. I have no idea -

I just quoted what was said at the event..................

[Justitia]

20. My son requires 12 daily meds to live, he just had a kidney transplant

His meds cost $4,000 per month. He must take them the rest of his life.

He will lose ALL medical coverage in 36 months.

I can name all 12 of his daily meds because they haunt me in my sleep & rob me of my dreams.

[excess_3]

21. I am very sad, for your troubles.

I hope you find relief.
.............................................
my general concern in matters
of exhorbitent drug expenses is.

some individual, or society, ends up paying $5
for a pill that costs a penny to make,
for a drug that is off patent.
It seems to me like unjust enrichment.
..........................
I would have preferred for some kind of
'drug reform, including patent reform',
to have preceded health care reform.
I guess I was dreaming.

[lisa58]

3. I'm with you and I understand....

...first, I hope your daughter does great and that whatever science can do to help her will be available to her - but you are the one that is going to help her the most.

I had a life-changing event when my daughter was born disabled....aside from my heartbreak....how did people who didn't have healthcare survive??? not implode???? I still don't know.

HEALTH CARE REFORM NOW.....

There are no excuses.

[ejpoeta]

9. Definitely!! My sister has a five year old who is disabled... she has braces on her legs

and is legally blind. she is the cutest little girl in the world... always smiles. she falls, she gets right back up and never cries. She is amazing. and she deserves everything that she can get in help. She gets help with a vision person and all other kinds of help. SHe has had people come to her house to work with her in speech and so many other things. Well, my sister works for the federal government as well, and has access to the federal plan. She had to fight with them, as I recall, to get them to cover hte special formula she needed for my niece, who was very small and had a lot of trouble gaining any weight when she was a baby. Krystie is the same size as my daughter.... and krystie is like two years older. And my sister is one of those that doesn't want to have to pay for other people... she bitches about all the black people who sit and collect welfare in NYC. uggh. And I believe one time I did remind her that the STATE is providing her daughter with all these things.... They were paying for her daughter to get all this help. Somehow that is ok because she pays taxes. I just don't get it. And she has the best healthcare... and she doesn't ahve to worry about losing her job either. How would she feel if something happened and I had not insurance and got sick and died because I didn't have insurance!!! I mean, I wish they would THINK!! would they condemn their own family to the fate they condemn so many others to?

[peace13]

8. Thanks for posting this.

Best wishes.

[ejpoeta]

10. thank you.

[Pavulon]

11. Me too with add. Pulled scholarships at NC state engineering

and dealt with this in school for 5 years. Was deployed while in college. Kept a good gpa. At the end of the day add has advantages, being able to focus like a pit bull while taking ratilin is useful. It is not always a negative if you work with it.

There is lots of good medicine out there and a psychologist (who keeps with pharmacology) who can help with coping mechanisms is helpful.

Married a (now) doc and we never saw a reason to change the treatment. 25 year old prescription still works.

I know it probably is a stressful thing but it has upsides.

[ejpoeta]

15. The key for me is to help her manage and be able to function.... she is very smart.

And I know that the other kids aren't interested in hearing about the things she finds fascinating which doesn't help her any. But I don't want anyone to take that thirst of knowledge from her either. The troubles she has had in school were in listening to the teacher, not talking and blurting htings out all the time... and she tends to want to 'help' people with things even when they didn't ask her to. I try to explain to her that some kids have a harder time understanding things and that if they want her help they will ask her... and I also explain to her that even though things are coming easy to her now, that will not always be the case.

My husband thinks she is not being challenged enough, which may be true... but her troubles seem to be with sitting still and following directions and listening... and with how to deal with situations that may not be easy. Like someone cutting in front of her in the lunch line. She grabbed at the boy. Or when a kid called her brittany spears... she hit him with her book bag. and that was this summer. the ritalin serves to slow her brain down enough to think before she acts, and has improved her immensely. She still had some issues in class last year, but I told her teacher that to me it was a relief that that was ALL it was... it was a noticeable improvement. and the time release ritalin works the best with her. we had her on the generic that had to be taken twice a day because we couldn't afford the $40/mo copay with our previous insurance.... and that didn't do a lot. the ritalin works wonders.

she still has issues, but I have long worked with her even before any diagnosis or meds on her behavior. a rewards system seemed to work pretty well as long as the teacher would work with me. My biggest fear in having her diagnosed or giving her any meds was that it would change her. I love her just the way she is... and my brother in law still takes ritalin to this day and I have talked with him about it.... he said for him it was like night and day. he is very successful... an engineer. I always tell my husband that were they given the proper upbringing, I could see both of them having been working at NASA or something. They are super smart. and they both have ADD. It gives me hope.... Emily can do so much!! she is smart like her dad.

She, for now anyway, says she wants to be a vulcanologist. I tell her that if she works hard.... she can be anything she wants to be. But in order to do that then she is going to have to be able to control herself. I tell her that it's ok to be mad or upset... but we can't hit others or any of that. and there are times to talk and times to listen and we have to understand that as well.

[Pavulon]

19. Slicing up tasks into chunks

she can work on in windows (not leaving myself with 3 hours of crash work on one thing for example) helps and creating a work zone worked for me. Breaking work up into something that can be paused and picked back up without a restart is crucial. Not sure if add works different for girls, but the coping structures support the ritalin for me.

ADD does not impact intelligence or critical thinking skills, but it can interfere with application of those things.

For me that was less than stellar high school and bs undergrad but once I figured out what I really wanted it was easy. There are memory tools in study that insurance does not cover, I have not tried them yet but they look promising. They are in the 2000 range for 4 - 8 week sessions.

At some point it all comes into focus and then it gets much easier. That was my experience. Hope all works out well.

[liberalhistorian]

24. My teenage son is an aspie, she sounds an awful

lot like him at that age and, in many ways, now, although he's much better with a lot of the social and behavior stuff. I find his intelligence and unique perspectives and never-ending quest for knowledge and his particular interests fascinating, always have, and, as difficult as it's been at times, I wouldn't have him any other way. I do not consider him "disabled" at all, he simply has a unique and different way of thinking, perceiving and communicating. It's society that thinks that just because he's not exactly like what is considered "normal" that he's "disordered" or "disabled." We would be out a lot of scientific, artistic and cultural contributions and inventions throughout the centuries if there were no aspies/autistics. Do NOT let her teachers and admins try to "normalize" her to the point where she loses her uniqueness and don't let them "guilt" you if she isn't as "normal" as they want her to be.

I worry about his insurance issues, especially as an adult, since I know that many aspies are unable to get coverage even though they don't require any particular medical treatments, any more than "normal" people, and they aren't likely to be suicidal or anything like that. Insurance paid for very little of his social and behavioral therapy, which also frosted my cookies bigtime.

[ejpoeta]

26. the 'disability' term is useful in giving kids the ability to have more time for tests

and other things. Emily definitely has an unending thirst for knowledge too. I love it... but it can be difficult when you are doing something and she comes in and starts rattling off all this new and fascinating stuff!! LOL! She tends to trip over herself trying to relay it too. I tell her to stop, close her eyes and take a deep breath and then start again. I haven't had any teachers as of yet trying to 'normalize' her beyond listening to the teacher and not just blurting things out in class. I think it's a blessing that she is so passionate about learning. I have always encouraged it. She was reading before she started school and is going into fifth this year... she just finished the harry potter series a couple of weeks ago and reads incessantly.... when she is not allowed to watch tv or play her ds.

It kind of ticks me off in general how our society in general treats mental health and things like ADD and other similar things. It ticks me off even more how insurance companies are allowed to discriminate against these things so terribly. It was only a couple of years ago that NYS passed a law requiring insurance companies to cover mental health appointments at the same co pay as they would for a specialist visit. Thanks to a family that fought for it after they had a child who committed suicide. They tried to get their kid help, but the insurance would only pay so much of it and they couldn't afford it. For a 'christian' nation, we sure don't act very christian like in this country towards each other.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

25. Your daughter sounds wonderfully interesting,

and that's a good and bad thing, as all parents know.

But, what caught me was your comment that she "wants to be a vulcanologist."

A friend of mine, who has Asperger's and a Ph.D., is one of the world's great experts on underwater volcanoes. He's with Woods Hole Oceanic Institution, and, while he sometimes fails to understand the dynamics of any given social situation, he's compensated very well by developing a keen wit and can tell a story better than anyone I've ever met.

Listening to him tell stories about the volcanoes at the bottom of the oceans, along with slides from the Alvin expeditions is a real joy.

Sounds like your little girl has a real fine head on her shoulders..........................................

[elocs]

12. My 17 y.o. goddaughter was diagnosed early this year with schizophrenia,

her mom's insurance company cut her off in June because she had used up her mental health care. Yes, she used up her ration and they will not pay for anything more for her until next year. Since she turned 18 a couple of weeks ago she is now on Medicaid. Unfortunately since she is now an adult and did not sign a health information release form for her mother when she was rehospitalized yesterday they could not even tell her mom where she is nor could they tell her that for the nearly 2 weeks she had been in the group home that she had refused to take her meds. If knowledge is power, knowing nothing is powerless.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Hey, good for you and her

knowledge is power.

And also adapting to the rest of the world, to a point

And if your daughter wants to talk or some tips, let me know... been there, done that, continues to do that.

No ritalin though. My drug of choice is free speed, (coffee)

[southernyankeebelle]

17. My son was ADHD and ADD and the school system didn't test him

at first. I had him in catholic school in kindergarten. Than we moved and I got a job in a sociologist office. I was typing reports where he was doing testing on some of these kids. I noticed he had some of the same problems. I talked with him and I paid for him to be tested. Than we sent a letter to the school and then they tested him. I tell you moving around really didn't help him very much. He has always had learning problems. He is smart but can't spell worth anything. He graduated high school and he is working at a eating establisment. He has been there a very long time. He has a good work ethnic. He works hard. If you have a learning disability your kind of tagged.

[ejpoeta]

27. Part of the problem as I see it is that the school waits until the child is having trouble

with their grades before they do anything. Emily didn't fit into their mold.... all her troubles were related to listening and following directions and acting out with other kids. Her grades were always at the top of her class. But we knew something was going on and tried to head it off BEFORE she had troubles with actual learning. I mean, she had a good head start in reading and other things before she ever got to school. And she is very smart. The school does a disservice to the kid when they won't even look at them until AFTER they are already having problems with their grades. Then they get to play catch up and it's harder once they are discouraged and feeling down on themselves.

We went to the school which was hesitant to do anything. We got them to do a preliminary test and then we had a meeting. They told us they don't like to diagnose kids before a certain age. We asked them to point us in the right direction to get her tested... because the doctor wasn't being much help. she just wanted to put emy on meds without getting her tested. WTF! uh, NO!! they gave us a list and I called chidren's hospital of buffalo first... they had a one year wait to get in AND don't take kids over 8!! emy was 8, so.... we finally found a place in Amherst that were very nice and I took her weekly for a month. They diagnosed her with ADHD and said she seemed a very good candidate for the ritalin. They were right.

I know I have a nephew that is having problems with school and grades.... my brother in law didn't want him tested because he was afraid stevie would use it as a crutch. I say, I could see the frustration on the kid's face. he probably is thinking he is stupid because he has trouble figuring things out and doesn't know why. Any diagnosis is only a 'crutch' if you let it be. You the parent that is. I don't let Emily use anything as an excuse. To me it's like when she tells me her cousin TOLD her to do something.... well, emy, you KNOW you are not allowed to do it, so whether your cousin TOLD you to do it is irrelevant. You are responsible for YOUR behavior. To me knowing is very important. It gives you information to help correct the trouble. It's harder to do that when you don't know what the problem is.

[PoiBoy]

18. Thom Hartmann...

Thom Hartmann, the progressive talk show host has written several books on ADD / ADHD which you may find helpful...

the links to his books at at his website, and they are very affordably priced, around $10.00 each:

http://www.thomhartmann.com/


Thom and his wife are also founders of Salem's Children Village and The Hunter School

http://www.salemchildrensvillage.org/
http://www.salemchildrensvillage.org/hunter-school.html

Check out the links and see what you think...

I wish you and yours all the best...!!!


:hi:

[ejpoeta]

28. thank you SO much. any info is helpful.

[LynzM]

23. Yeah, it sucks. :(

Even with insurance, we had my husband tested for AS last year, and we hadn't yet met our yearly $1000 for out-of-network psych stuff, and there are no in-network people in our area who do AS diagnosis for adults. So we ate that bill. Ouch.

You're so right that knowledge is power, especially in the case of caring for one's body and mind, or that of one's child.