Everything is so expensive!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wanted to thank everyone who chimed in on this thread. I am not OP and while my 6 yo was flagged as at risk for developing ADHD he has not been diagnosed (and had a full neuropsych eval). He has an IEP and gets great services through public school. We have been paying $15K/yr out of pocket for private OT on top of the OT he gets at school, and my husband and I just now had the courage to realize it was not worth it anymore. It's easy to forget that someone who tells you they want to help your kid is running a business like any other.

Plus you’re taking up a spot if your kid doesn’t really need it anymore. I’ve heard wait lists can be very long especially ones that take insurance can be near impossible to get into. A good therapist should discharge your child once they meet their goals

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wanted to thank everyone who chimed in on this thread. I am not OP and while my 6 yo was flagged as at risk for developing ADHD he has not been diagnosed (and had a full neuropsych eval). He has an IEP and gets great services through public school. We have been paying $15K/yr out of pocket for private OT on top of the OT he gets at school, and my husband and I just now had the courage to realize it was not worth it anymore. It's easy to forget that someone who tells you they want to help your kid is running a business like any other.

Plus you’re taking up a spot if your kid doesn’t really need it anymore. I’ve heard wait lists can be very long especially ones that take insurance can be near impossible to get into. A good therapist should discharge your child once they meet their goals

How do you know they don’t need it. They are private paying?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the evidenced based therapies for anxiety? People always say do your research. But I’m not a scientist. I don’t understand what research papers say.

I just posted but according to our psychiatrist meds + therapy. (True for adults too)

OP here - so would this be anxiety medication in addition to ADHD medication? Seems like a lot at once. And the dr who performed the neuropathy is hopeful treating the ADHD will largely address the anxiety.

as a person with generalized anxiety, I find this very strange. ADHD meds are known to increase anxiety not reduce it. If the child has clinical anxiety that needs to be treated then the meds are SSRIs and you need a referral to SPACE or the Ross Center or another anxiety specialist.

Some do but not all! Don't generalize what you don't know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the evidenced based therapies for anxiety? People always say do your research. But I’m not a scientist. I don’t understand what research papers say.

I just posted but according to our psychiatrist meds + therapy. (True for adults too)

OP here - so would this be anxiety medication in addition to ADHD medication? Seems like a lot at once. And the dr who performed the neuropathy is hopeful treating the ADHD will largely address the anxiety.

We didn't do it all at once. We started with anxiety and then later added ADHD meds when it was clear those where needed. We had already done an evidence based therapy (two actually) and while it helped some, nothing helped like adding meds. FWIW my child's anxiety is not related to ADHD. They can coexist and not be related. I see alot on this board that AHDH can cause anxiety, which is sometimes the case, but not necessarily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the evidenced based therapies for anxiety? People always say do your research. But I’m not a scientist. I don’t understand what research papers say.

I just posted but according to our psychiatrist meds + therapy. (True for adults too)

OP here - so would this be anxiety medication in addition to ADHD medication? Seems like a lot at once. And the dr who performed the neuropathy is hopeful treating the ADHD will largely address the anxiety.

We didn't do it all at once. We started with anxiety and then later added ADHD meds when it was clear those were needed. We had already done an evidence based therapy (two actually) and while it helped some, nothing helped like adding meds. FWIW my child's anxiety is not related to ADHD. They can coexist and not be related. I see alot on this board that AHDH can cause anxiety, which is sometimes the case, but not necessarily.

as a person with a GAD diagnosis I’m also confused about how ADHD can “cause anxiety.” What I suspect is that in younger kids, psychiatrists think that a stimulant med will decrease the externalizing behavior that had been called “anxiety” in a younger kid but was really impulsivity. Actual anxiety is a really distinct physical and mental pattern that has nothing to do with focus and impulsivity, although it could make it harder to focus. I really dislike this mishmash of “every diagnosis is every other diagnosis.” We deserve better than that - otherwise it makes it very hard to know what will help our kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the evidenced based therapies for anxiety? People always say do your research. But I’m not a scientist. I don’t understand what research papers say.

I just posted but according to our psychiatrist meds + therapy. (True for adults too)

OP here - so would this be anxiety medication in addition to ADHD medication? Seems like a lot at once. And the dr who performed the neuropathy is hopeful treating the ADHD will largely address the anxiety.

We didn't do it all at once. We started with anxiety and then later added ADHD meds when it was clear those were needed. We had already done an evidence based therapy (two actually) and while it helped some, nothing helped like adding meds. FWIW my child's anxiety is not related to ADHD. They can coexist and not be related. I see alot on this board that AHDH can cause anxiety, which is sometimes the case, but not necessarily.

as a person with a GAD diagnosis I’m also confused about how ADHD can “cause anxiety.” What I suspect is that in younger kids, psychiatrists think that a stimulant med will decrease the externalizing behavior that had been called “anxiety” in a younger kid but was really impulsivity. Actual anxiety is a really distinct physical and mental pattern that has nothing to do with focus and impulsivity, although it could make it harder to focus. I really dislike this mishmash of “every diagnosis is every other diagnosis.” We deserve better than that - otherwise it makes it very hard to know what will help our kids.

I was the PP and thank you for saying that. Is it the meds that can cause it? I actually don’t know because I’ve always ignored the co-mixing of the two chatter because like I said, they are distinctly different for our DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any tips on what I need to submit to get the anxiety therapy covered? Will the neuropsych be enough or do I need a Dr prescription/referral for it?

She has a dysgraphia diagnosis — any experience with getting insurance to reimburse OT for that (and what did you need to submit to justify it)?

Yes- for OT you need an evaluation and your therapist to write therapy notes with and icd-10 code that relates to incoordination and CPT codes for each session. Then you submit them as claims to your insurance (may want to call up to see what your policy pays for, usually it is a specific number of session or a % of the session). Then your insurance company cuts you a check. Many OT don’t accept insurance and this is how you get reimbursed for private pay

[Anonymous]

I’m right there with you with the costs: OT, speech, part time nanny because dd can’t go to aftercare, play therapy, supplements, on and on. My suggestions
1) Get the right pediatrician. Our pediatrician will write a referral for specialists, in network or out of network, and it gets approved. This is half your battle. Kaiser is great for this imo.
2) Get a dependent care FSA—you can deduct pretax dollars from your account to pay for childcare. I trained our nanny to tutor our kids and she has been amazing
3) Get a medical FSA. We pay like 150 per 45 min play therapy session. Even if your out of network session isn’t covered, you can get it pretax covered—without having to meet h Ty e ridiculously high threshold—with a healthcare FSA