Uro og trass

Yesterday I had a meeting with BUP. They explained how they had scored my boy during the last observation.

In communication he got 14 points where the cut off point was 10. That means that he is 4 points into the Asperger area. Socially he got 12 points where the cut off was 6. That means 6 points into Aspergers area. Behaviour he got 10 where I seam to remember the cut off was 3 points.

The psychologists feel that he was so uncooperative during the observation session that they can't close with a diagnosis yet. Here I was marveling at how I had never seen him so cooperative with a stranger before!

They can't assess if he is restless and defiant because he can't do the task or if it is because he doesn't want to.

This means that another psychiatrist will be called inn to assess the case. There might be more observations/sessions or it might be decided that there's enough to make a final diagnosis.

The psychologists recommend medication in order to find out if the defiant behaviour is ADHD. If contrarian's defiant behaviour does not change on medication then it will indicate that the behaviour is because of the Aspergers. However, the psychiatrist will make this decision.

I'm not too enthusiastic about using medication - there's something unnatural about drugs in a child's body. However, if it can improve his social abilities at school then maybe it is worth some consideration. Another unknown territory for me.

Observation - BUP

Just realized that I forgot to write about the last observation my boy did!

Observation 7th January 2011 - BUP Asker.

I was allowed to watch through a mirror/window - like the ones in NCIS when they play 'bad cop - good cop'. It was a taped session.

We had explained to contrarian that he was going to 'play' with the psychiatrist. He wasn't happy about it, he couldn't quite understand what the fuss was about. I told him that it was because of the WISC test results. That the doctors wanted to know how he could be so clever when his concentration was age appropriate. He accepted my explanation although reluctantly.

He was very offish to the psychiatrist - very distrusting. She tried to engage him in 'role-play' but he told her that he found it childish so he didn't want to play with her.

She would chose a bag for each task. In the bag there would be various toys - there would always be at least one item that didn't fit in with the rest of the toys. He liked the gadgets, at one point he became completely fascinated with a sort of 'pin pad' thing. The one where you can put your hand or face and push the 'pins' to the other side so that it makes an imprint of your hand or face. He loved the detail. He didn't like the figures at all - called them childish.

The questions went something like :"Is mum/dad/friend/sister happy?What does mum do when she happy/angry/sad?How do you know that mum is happy/angry/sad? What does mum like to do?" etc .

I realized that my son

a) Doesn't see facial expressions

b)Doesn't read body language

c)Doesn't know what anybody in his family or social group likes doing or doesn't like doing (except for beyblades - apparently all his friends are only interested in beyblades just like him).

d)He knows when his little sister is angry/upset because she is vocal - she cries or screams. We have to help her then because she is a baby.

e)He does know and remember everything I tell him verbally-even if he doesn't agree with it.

f)My son doesn't know that I smile when I am happy or that I laugh a lot but he can 'feel' it. He can't explain that I go quiet when I am upset or that I go for a walk when I am sad but he can 'feel' it. And the truth is that he does feel it. I know because he will ask me "mummy what is wrong?".

There was a particular task where she took out a book. She then asked contrarian to tell her the story. The book was about the life cycle of frogs.

Contrarian became very enthused - basically grabbed the book from her hands wile she was still talking - nodding his head and pushing her hands away. I was taken aback by his in depth knowledge and understanding of the detailed process. His intelligence shinned through on all accounts. So did his lack of ability to 'read' other people.

One of the psychologist phoned me a few days later to ask if BUP could use the video in their training sessions. I said 'yes'.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with BUP to hear what the psychiatrist made of the observation and what conclusions she has come to.

EEG

Contrarian went for an EEG this morning. He was a little disturbed by the funny gel stuff they put in his hair and forehead but generally he was very patient.

I noticed that he seamed to get very tired when doing the 'fast' breathing exercises.

When it was finished we were given a piece of paper to give to the admin office. I noticed that it read : 'diagnosis' - Z033/G409.

They said that we would get the results in a weeks time.

Everything is great at the moment, my boy is so happy with life. Even doing his homework without protestations!