Between our two kids we've got apraxia of speech, sensory issues and attention deficit disorder with a side of anxiety, compulsive behaviors and, depending on the week, tics. Things may be complicated in our house but, hey, at least they're unpredictable.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Peds Need to Get With the Alternative Program

I came home from the pediatrician’s office with with a container of probiotics in my purse, plans to bring Max back for food sensitivity testing and a referral to a homeopath for craniosacral therapy and Neuro-Emotional techniques. And as I filled Dave in our appointment with this new doctor I commented that our regular pediatrician would never have made any of these recommendations.

“That’s not their job,” he offered.

“Yes, it is,” I said.

At least, it should be.

I don’t expect every pediatric practice to offer acupuncture or craniosacral therapy or to suggest trying fish oil supplements for mood management. But considering the staggering number of children with special needs and the ever widening array of possible treatments, shouldn’t pediatricians at least be able to make us aware of these options?

How much more press does autism or ADHD medications have to get before the mainstream treatment net is cast wider? Isn’t six million children in this country with speech and language disorders enough to merit more education on the part of the medical community?

I am certainly thrilled to have found this new doctor and am eager to see what improvements we may find with the new treatments. But I am somewhat disappointed that I couldn’t turn to our own pediatrician for help.

But I can’t say that I’m surprised.

According to a survey conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2001, while 94% of respondents agreed that pediatricians should inquire about a child’s development, 80% cited time limitation as a barrier to doing so. Fifty-five percent felt they received inadequate reimbursement from insurance companies and 46% had the nerve to claim “unfamiliarity with CPT codes” as a reason for not doing developmental assessments during well-child visits. You know what a CPT code is? It’s one of those numbers on that piece of paper you take up front to cash out at your doctor’s office; each medical procedure is assigned one.

To say you can’t do a developmental assessment because you don’t understand which code to use is akin to not submitting your tax papers for a refund because you couldn’t find a stamp. It doesn’t make sense.

If pediatricians can’t be bothered to even screen for developmental problems, how can we expect them to know how to treat them?

Max will now be getting double the fish oil he took in the past. I’ll mix in half a teaspoon of probiotics in his milk every morning. And next week we’ll talk about how craniosacral therapy might help manage his moodiness, agitation and compulsive behaviors. I don’t know if any of it will work…we’re just following doctor’s orders.

Regardless of what Max’s medical regiment will producee, one thing is for sure – following doctor’s orders will certainly be easier than it was to find a doctor who could issue them.

4 Comments:

At 4:00 PM, February 23, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Debbie,
I have written you in the past. I have a 5 year old son with language issues. His name is Kevin and I am Mary Beth. We live in Tampa, FL. The fish oil supplements are a great idea. My eldest brother, the light of our family took his own life 7 weeks ago. In my desperate attempts to make sense of it all I have been doing a lot of research on mood disorders. (my brother was bi-polar) The research says that fish oil is an incredible mood elevator. In fact it says that depressed people have very low levels of omega 3 in their blood. I had Kevin on fish oil last year for his language dev. We have been sporadic with it lately until this happened. The whole family is going to be put on fish oil now. I am not implying your Max has any dpression issues. I am simply saying that the benefits of fish oil are numerous for ALL people. Hope everything is going well for you and your family. I really take comfort in your blog.
Mary Beth
parry05@msn.com

 
At 4:37 PM, February 23, 2006, Blogger Debbie said...

Mary Beth,

I am very sorry for the loss of your brother and really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with me. I agree that we all can benefit from fish oil; my own doctor recommended it just for general cardiac care.

Thank you for your kind words about my blog. And again, thanks for telling your story here -- it's sure to reach many people who may be struggling with mood issues, or have a loved one who is, and I know it's sure to help.

Best,
Debbie

 
At 6:56 PM, April 03, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think its because doctors are not trained well enough to be able to diagnose Autism. That is where it is the parents job to keep pushing and pushing to get the help that their child needs.
Although my dr said that if my son wasn't saying more words by the time he was 3 then it was time to go and be evaluated by a speech and lamguage pathologist...and that got my son the speech that he needed.

 
At 8:10 AM, June 06, 2006, Blogger Debbie said...

Faiza,

Thanks for taking the time to tell me about your son Habib. I'm glad you're seeing some improvement with the fish oil. But I'm sorry you're feeling pressure from his school. We've had success with different medications and I'm an advocate of them. But not all parents are and meds are not the right answer for every child. Is there a parent advocate of some sort who can help you talk with the school?

Best,

Debbie

 

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