On Thu, 2 Oct 2003 20:40:12 -0600, "ColoradoSkiBum"
wrote:
Like I said we're on the last ditch effort here. If he doesn't make it out
this time then he's probably going to be sent to a "day treatment" sort of
place--IOW a mental hospital as an outpatient rather than living there all
the time. I feel so ****ing sorry for the poor kid, but I don't know what
else we can do for him.

I feel for you because I have an idea of what you're going through. I understand
how frustrating it is to have a child that is having major problems, but is
still a neat person. You get so ****ed at them for behaving the way they do and
yet you still see how much they could accomplish if they put their attention to
doing good things.

The one thing I will tell you right now is to get help for your SS ASAP. The
longer you wait, the worse the problems will get.

Treatment centers are extremely expensive. I know one around here is $440 per
*day* for inpatient treatment (I don't know about outpatient). IMHO, if the
child's behaviour is really serious, inpatient treatment might be the best
option in order to give the family some breathing room.

In our case, our health insurance would have paid the bill (except for the $1K
yearly family deductible) if DS was dx'd as having schizophrenia, bipolar
disorder or any type of pervasive developmental disorder (such as autism or
aspergers). You might want to check to see what coverage your health insurance
offers because a lot of insurance companies have cut back on mental health
coverage to reduce costs.

To start off, you probably want to find a good psychiatrist that can evaluate
your SS thoroughly. He/she can do a bunch of tests as well as an in-depth
interview and the doc's report will give you a clear idea of how to proceed. You
might call your local MH/MR to see if they can help. One of the docs from our
MH/MR did my DS's evaluation and she was so incredibly thorough, I couldn't
believe it. She's been a great source of information for me as well and we
certainly couldn't have made the decisions we did without her input.

It's hard to get help for kids like this and it's *frustrating*. You just have
to keep calling people and talking to them. If you can find a psychiatrist who
will work with you, you'll have a much easier time.

BTW, don't forget about yourself and the other members of your family. You might
consider counseling for everyone because having one child whose behaviour causes
so many problems can cause a lot of problems for everyone else.

Good luck,
Tracy
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We child proofed our home 3 years ago
and they're still getting in!
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