Rest of the Week

I haven't blogged the rest of the week in detail as I've been really busy going through Little Prince's Proposed Statement of Special Needs, that we received last week. When we first received it I was so relieved that he was being given some official help that I was over the moon, but on reading it in more detail I've realised that it doesn't address some of Little Prince's needs properly. So I've been going through the report and appendices in great detail (line by line!!) and noting ALL the evidence contained in there to show that Little Prince has more needs than the Proposed Statement is supporting. I have also show the evidence that they made a mistake with one of his diagnoses - he has severe dyspraxia, but it is noted on the Proposed Statement as "mild." I took advice from one of the forums I read and quoted case law and precedents, to say that the Proposed Statement should be more specific and that they aren't taking into account his emotional and behavioural needs. Although it is bittersweet to be arguing that my gorgeous little boy has severe emotional and behavioural difficulties :-( I know that he has, but he is so so much more than that, he is a loving, kind, funny fabulous little boy too - but I had to write down all the evidence to show his difficulties rather than his strengths.

It took ages to go through the 1/4 inch appendices, and was hard work, but it will be totally worth it if it gets Little Prince the help at school he needs. I was on a roll by the time I'd finished that job, and finally got round to ordering the Curly Q hair products that are the latest recommendation to help keep Princess Lollipop's hair in good condition. I have also cut down on the washing of her hair, and have just been using conditioner on her hair every other day. It is so much easier to comb through and she hasn't cried at all when I'm doing her hair since I started doing this :-) Her hair looks much healthier and in much better condition now too :-)

My next job was to find out what was happening with Little Prince's urgent re-referral to his Paediatrician to get an official diagnosis of ADHD and give him a trial of medication to see if that helps his behavioural problems. I spoke to the Paediatrician's secretary, who was extremely helpful, she took all the details and promised to get back to me straight away. She rang back within about 15 minutes, to say that a reply had already been sent to our GP, but unfortunately it states that the Paediatrician can't see Little Prince again and that he still has to wait another EIGHT MONTHS to be seen again by the CAHMS Externalising Behaviour Clinic!! The letter recommended that the GP try to refer Little Prince to a different hospital that might see him sooner. Being anally retentive and wanting to make sure this wouldn't make the wait longer, I contacted the other hospital to speak to the Doctor recommended in the letter. This Doctor no longer works at the hospital, so when I explained what I was trying to do I was put through to the ADHD Nurse, she was out on home visits so I left a message.

Mr Messy is working from home today so he went up to OUR shop early, and I took Little Prince to school and then came home and rang the ADHD Nurse again. She had already left me a message on the answer machine while I was up at school. I was a little longer up there as I gave Little Prince's teacher a copy of the letter I'd sent regarding his Proposed Statement, she was impressed with the amount of detail I'd gone into! And she said if the LEA SEN Dept contact school they will fully back up what I'd said. Anyway back to the phone call with the ADHD Nurse! I explained that we had been having so many problems getting Little Prince an official diagnosis of ADHD, despite his former Paediatrician and our GP being convinced he has this condition. She was incredulous that the Paediatrician hadn't made the diagnosis official and started him on a trial of medication. But she also explained that he might not qualify for a diagnosis once he'd been seen by them. I asked how long the process could take, as I don't want to get our GP to make a different referral that takes even longer than the one we are waiting for already! She said that the Dept has been given notice that all their ADHD patients are going to be transferred to CAHMS, so it is possible that could happen before Little Prince gets seen and we'd be back where we started!! However, she said to get the referral in and see what they could do (I've taken a note of the Dr's name and will talk to our GP when he is back next Tuesday). Once the referral is received at the new hospital they will send out a Connor's Questionnaire and another one that I can't remember the name of, to both us and school. She will make a home visit to see us and Little Prince and then a decision will be made as to whether or not he needs to be seen at the clinic. She also told me that it would be early next year before he was seen at a clinic as the Doctor only has two new patient clinics per month, and he isn't in work for most of December. However, she was pretty confident that the questionnaires would be sent out and the home visit completed before the end of the year. This sounds so much more positive than any news we've had about this recently, and I am hopeful again, that Little Prince (and me!) will soon receive the help he so desperately needs. Fingers crossed this isn't another wild goose chase!!