We got our answer today. The pediatrician told us that Daniel's EEG was "abnormal and indicative of epilepsy." I told you it wasn't ADD. So his teacher can freaking bite me.
After school, I talked with the school counselor who wants me to let her know what the neurologist says so that if we need to start any kind of IEP proceedings, we can get that going. Also, so that we can start making modifications for him in the classroom. She's the one who, surprisingly, has been incredibly supportive and told me months ago that this diagnosis makes perfect sense. She wanted to know if I wanted her to tell his teacher to "take one thing off my plate." I told her no that I'd do it.
I ran down to find her in the classroom. When I told her the test was positive for epilepsy, she looked as though I'd hit her and her jaw hit the floor. She told me that she'd never seen Daniel have seizures and I told her that she had. When he goes blank, that's a seizure. I don't know if she's yet a believer but she'd better get her butt on the bandwagon.
Mike is livid with the school psychologist. He wants a sit-down with the principal, teacher, counselor and psychologist. He also wants an apology since the psychologist diagnosed Daniel with ADD, clinical depression and anxiety disorder. Of course, it's always behavioral, it can never be anything medical. Mike wants there to be more education on their part. I have to agree. It's far too easy to say that your kid doesn't pay attention so he has ADD. We could have gone that route and medicated him but I just knew that he wasn't.
And I'm not in denial. And I have an EEG to prove it.
So, we have an appointment with the pediatric neurologist at Children's Mercy on December 2. I thought that was pretty fast. We'll have more specifics then.
6 comments:
Yay for answers! And I'm so proud of you and Mike for standing firm. You know your child better than anyone else, and this proves it.
-- SJ
Thank you, Sara! It is nice to know that I'm not crazy. That all of the headbutting we've been doing with his school has been worth it. I just hope we can turn some stuff around for him.
While I'm glad you have a diagnosis, it's a bit frightening. Can this usually be controlled with medication?
It is a little scary but it is completely controllable with medication. And, when it's caught and treated in childhood, 80% grow out of them by age 18. Uncontrolled and undiagnosed, this type of seizure sometimes does lead to grand mal, which is very scary. I have a friend that has epilepsy and she hasn't had a seizure since she was 9 and stopped taking meds at 17. She's 38 now. Very encouraging. Now, we need to get Mike in for testing since I think he gets them too.
The school shouldn't be diagnosing anything. This is one reason why I do not have Sophia in public school. They are very quick to say that the child needs ADD/ADHD meds if they show any bit of being a child. It's crazy. I'm glad you got your answers, Barb. Remember, don't let Daniel use this as an excuse to be bad. I can see him trying to tell you that he didn't do it, it was the epilepsy.
I see what you're saying, Sue. The only real problems Daniel has at school have to do with listening and following directions. Trust me, we won't let him get away with anything. It's just that he's been trying so hard to be a "good kid" and nothing works for him.
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