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If I told you that I got a good report on my son, what would you think? Would you think that I had someone tell me how well he is doing, that he’s passing his classes, and his behavior is exemplary? Or would you think that I received a psychological report that is totally on target?
In my home a “good” report is the latter kind. I have received several reports in the mail in the last few days. Two from the treatment foster care “company” and four from the residential treatment center that Sammy was in prior to moving into treatment foster care.
I have bobble head syndrome while I am reading these reports, because I feel like I could have written them myself. This is rare for me. Sammy is incredibly cute and charming and can turn it on and off at will. Here is a classic example.
I was meeting with my own personal counselor, and Sammy was sitting in the waiting room. It was a Saturday morning and we were the only people there, so it was safe to leave him alone. The next appointment arrived, and Sammy engaged her in conversation. Sammy and I left, and the woman entered the counselor’s office. She told my counselor that she had just met the most incredible young man who gave her hope in today’s youth. The counselor questioned her a bit, and determined that she was talking about Sammy. The counselor burst out laughing, and then gave her a bit of history on Sammy, at which point the woman changed her tune.
I was not the least bit upset with the counselor, and she knew I wouldn’t be so she could divulge this. The fact that Sammy was able to so easily charm this woman gives you an indication of the type of reports I normally receive. These are different, and I am so incredibly grateful.
When I began to read the psychological evaluation, I was concerned. Some of the things that Sammy told the psychologist were just flat out lies. He claimed that he had been hospitalized after a concussion, that he had fluid on his lungs when he was born, that he was born premature, that he had asthma and suffered from headaches and dizzy spells every morning. None of these are true.
The bright side is that the psychologist caught this. He wrote in his report:
While the information that Sammy revealed in the interview seemed spontaneous and useful at times, there is reason to doubt the reliability of some of his statements. He tended to blurt out statements influenced by momentary feelings and attitudes, and contradict himself within seconds. In the Jesness Inventory he made so many contradictory responses that the test could not be interpreted. Additional testing not requiring self-reported personal information will be attempted.
The fact that this makes me do the happy dance gives some insight into the struggles that we have had in getting appropriate services for our son.
The final paragraph under the heading “Diagnostic Impressions” also just about had me shouting for joy.
The DSM-IV disorder labels below do not adequately describe the problems discussed above and may not even be central to the major treatment issues. They are included in this report only to help identify commonly-understood emotional and behavioral problems which in some cases may respond to medication.
If you’re not sure what the DSM-IV is, check out Julie’s blog.
Doesn’t this just make a mother proud? My child defies description by a psychological manual. However, the fact that the psychologist said that the labels are less important than the treatment is something that I can fully agree with. I really don’t care what you label him with, just help us. I am far past the point of caring whether he is labeled Bi-Polar or Psychotic, or anything else. That just doesn’t play a part in my mind anymore. Just tell me what we need to be doing.
The report covering the first month of Sammy’s stay in treatment foster care was equally helpful. It documented behaviors that we have been struggling with for years, but social services was quick to say were due to my bad parenting. In this new placement, the same behaviors exist, and some new ones have cropped up. Racial slurs and teasing a developmentally disabled child are new things we hadn’t seen before, but are fairly common occurrences in the foster home. Enough so, that they’re mentioned in the report.
Receiving reports like these almost make me want to frame them and hang them on the wall. The validation is so incredible. Here’s hoping the “good” reports keep coming.
