Absolutely disgusted. | Autism PDD
Disgraceful!
I ran my own solo family practice for 5 years before having to close it after having my son. I admit that there were some times that patients in my office experienced your level of frustration...But I know that I and my staff worked really hard to not let that happen. One of my best employees got to know each patient and family and we adjusted the schedule whenever we had to. I loved my patients. They would play cards or tell stories or take a walk outside if I was running late. Sometimes my patients would bring breakfast or lunch. We in turn provided the best care we could in a comfortable setting that was nothing like many of today's patient "mills". I had one woman who came with her therapy dog, another knitted, kids brought their homework...It had many elements of the old time family practices...
If someone had any kind of special need we bent over backward to accomodate it. We helped people on and off of exam tables, drove patients home if their taxi or ride didn't come, fed people who were hungry, etc.
I just want you to know that there are still docs out there who care and are trying to make a difference...
That is definetly THE WORST! I like an idea mentioned earlier about calling ahead to see if Dr. is running behind. That way you can be late too! I'm going to use that one for sure. When I take my son to his appts., I bring some toys that he likes to focus on. A Matchbox car with wheels that spin very fast and one with doors that open and close. Yes it is stimming, but waiting in an office is not the time for an ABA session! So, if he has a toy or object that can calm him, I'd bring it along. Also, we sometimes have to take my son outside to look at cars in the parking lot or we find a grassy area nearby where he can go nuts. If you want to try that, just make sure the receptionist knows to come out and get you. I'm sure they'll understand why you have to wait elsewhere. (We do this at restaurants too).Devin's Dr office is GREAT!! When my sil or dd takes Devin in to the office they check in, They know that Devin doesn't do waiting room, he is much happier outside, so they come out and get him when it is his turn. you can't ask for better treatment then that!!!!!
Grandma to Devin age3 asd/sid
Today I took my son to a dr appointment for his eczema. I hate going to the dr with him because he gets so over stimulated there. Today the wait time was 35 minutes and we never did get called...I left with him.I am so disgusted with people that I cannot even tell you how I feel and get it all out properly. When my son is over stimulated (he's 4), he will gallop around the room, screetching and screaming...all the while laughing, because over all he's happy, and people just stare and whisper. "God, how old IS HE?" "What is he doing..." and one mother pulled her child away from being any where near mine.
We just left. There are NO autism doctors around here where we can go and sit in a waiting room forever and not be concerned about their behavior because other parents experience most of the same things. It is non exisistant.
I called the dr office when I got home and explained to them why we had to leave, they understood, but damn it, his autism has been in his charts now for over a year, you'd think they'd know to GET US IN, even if we must sit in the exam room alone for a while. I left a voice mail with the nurse asking the dr to review his chart and call him in a prescription for his eczema.
I get so sick and tired of knowing that the kind of rudeness that other kids show is simply a mirror image of their parents. Makes me so sick.
What an unaccepting world.
Im sorry, the world really can be unaccepting, i hope u can solve the problem good luck!I can feel for you. I really hope you can find a doc that will work with you
AND your son. Our ped is great--they call our dd in as soon as we get
there, even if it's just so we wait in a quiet room vs. the waiting room. They
usually try to see us w/o too long of a wait too. Also, if it's something like
her asthma or a skin infection, they usually do a phone consult, tell me how
to treat, call in rx, etc. If it doesn't improve in a day or so, I go in. BUT, this
has saved us LOTS of terrible doc office visits. Good luck!
So sorry you had to be put through that!
Our CVS here in Texas and starting to open up in pharmacy a non emergency clinic for anyone..I think it's great as I get allergy infections every other month..not sure on what the cost is..hasnt opened yet but I hope its a hit..they are supposed to have a nurse practioner that can prescribe meds other than the hard narcotic ones:)
I interviewed around for Sarah's doc and found a private pediatrician that never has anyone in her office when we go..Sarah rarely gets sick so we dont go often..wish you had her..she is real sensitive to our kids:)
For minor things I called my doctor's office and leave a message for nurse of what I have..what I want and my pharmacies ph.#...most times this is all I need but sometimes she wants to see me. See if your doc can put a 6x refills or more on his cream so you wont have to go through this again! poor thing..and your son too:)
I changed doctors after I had to wait for 1 hour with my autistic 5 year oldson and sick 1 year old twins to get their ears checked by a nurse (which
took 2 minutes). My kids actually did pretty well but I had a full-blown
tantrum.
Thankfully there were other peds in town and though the new doc is
further away I have never waited more than 10 minutes tops.
I think sometimes docs don't know what goes on in the front office. I'd be
sure to let him/her know next time - no doc wants to loose patients
because an oblivious receptionist.I, too, am from a place where you say the word autism and people are like, "Oh, that's like what that Rain Man had, right?" There are no resources, no doctors, no schools, NOTHING. Living in Oklahoma and having autism is a bleak existence, especially when your parents are too poor and ignorant to take you OUT of state for evaluation and treatment. I can relate. People blamed my mom to her face for my behavior as a child--our own FAMILY--and it really took a toll on her. It's always the mother that gets the blame, and I'm sick of it. We women have enough problems with assertiveness, guilt, and self-blame that we do not need society looking down on us for something we cannot control. At least your child has an intelligent mother who realizes he's autistic and tries her best to accommodate him and better his life. Don't let this cold world steal your sunshine.
Jaden is much better about waiting than she used to be. A year or so ago, she would only last 5 minutes in a waiting room before screeching, screaming, etc. I put her in a stroller so at least she wasn't all over the place. I finally just made it a habit when we checked in, to remind everyone behind that desk that she is autistic, and would only last in the waiting room for 5 minutes before screaming. They were usually very accomadating.
I always insist on an appointment and then just before leaving ring the clinic tosee where they are on the listand if he is running late they tell me. I make a point of reminding them the kids have autism and that they willl race around and climb all over the place. I also bring a bag of toys with me and food/lollies to keep the kids distracted. It reduces you to tears when you are left waiting and won't put up with it anymore. The worst offender was the paediatrician who really should know better. Sorry you had such a lousy day, hugs Liz.I'm sorry you had to go through that.....
I had something like that happen when Quinn was about 5 yrs old I took him to an eye appointment at Children's Hospital"s Develomental Medicine Clinic. After about 1/2 hour of wating I went up and asked the receptionist how much longer...she couldn't tell me...she only said "soon"....at 45 minutes I went up again ....she said "I know you've been waiting a while it should only be a few more minutes....I told her that we had been there 45 minutes......then at the hour mark I walked out....I had enough.....he couldn't wait any longer and I wanted to scream
The next day the doctor called me to ask why I walked out...I told her that I was kept waiting 1 hour.
When I reshceduled I told them the only appt. I wanted was the first appt. of the day even though it was going to mean that we would have to be up very very early to be there, still better than waiting if they are running late.
I can relate to what Micki said....I'm the one having the full blown tantrum most of the time. Just the stress of knowing my son's tantrums and bad behavior is inevitable everywhere we go really gets to me. Many times, my tantrum surfaces before my son's!
Anyway, I try to do as much business over the phone as possible. It's amazing how many health care folks would rather NOT have my son in their office. I get many things over the phone that I probably shouldn't!
I agree that having the first appt of the day is helpful too. It stinks that you had to waste your time waiting for the appt you never got. Hopefully that office will consider your needs next time.
grrrr. that's unacceptable in my book. WHY WHY WHY do dr's overbook their schedules so much! 1/2 hr wait and still not called in? pisses me off. and especially with a special needs kid. no excuse for them. I'm sorry you went through that. I had a similiar experience at the opthamologist for Andrew. I was SO mad!!!!!! I thought it was a pedi opthamologist, but it was a HUGE office with tons of drs and probably 20-30 people in a huge waiting room. They had a childrens section but it wasn't that seperated, and we waited 30 minutes for them to insist he had to have drop in his eyes through which he SCREAMED and then sent us back out there for another 30 minutes. Talk about stares. He wouldn't let the dr touch him by that point and I told them no less than 5 times I had 2 autistic children with me. It was a nightmare. Is there a way you can talk to the dr so that wait times can be avoided and if not if you can wait in an exam room?I think we have all had that experience. I look forward to the good days, more and more I have more of them.I had that happen once (well more than once) at the psy's office. He shares a very tiny office with 3 other psy's. My ds was really wound up tight one day. One of the other psy got angry with us for my son acting up. Well duh!!! Just why did he think we were there? Just think, he actually went to school too. Makes me feel sorry for his patients.
I am lucky that my doctor has a daughter on the spectrum. He gets me in as soon as they let him know we are there. There should be an understanding doc out there somewhere. Good luck!You may have considered this, but I'll mention it in case you haven't. My son's first pediatrician was actually a nurse practitioner who worked in the ped's office. We rarely had to wait long to see her. Unfortunately she left the practice and we were back to seeing the regular doctor, which meant the long waits. After Jacob was prelim dx'd and I started talking to some local advocates, we found another nurse practitioner who had her own clinic. The longest we've ever had to wait was at our first visit and that was a long one only because we had to fill out the new patient paper work. Like I said, you may have considered this already, but if not, check with you ped's office and see if they have a NP and if not, the local hospital could maybe refer you to one. Oh, and it's also been my experience that NP's seem way more willing to spend time talking to you than regular DRs. Good luck!My son is 6 and he hates his pediatrician. As soon as we start heading in the direction of his Peds office, he starts to panic. I don't tell him before hand as he will get very stressed out over it. To calm him and keep him occupied in the car and waiting room I take his toys along. Sometimes 2 or 3 bags full. It definitely calms him plus I don't like when he plays with toys at he drs office because I doubt they are disinfected. Even if I take him to the supermarket, restaurant, family etc he has a couple of toys in his hand and the bags are in the car just in case. I am considering buying a portable DVD player as he is getting older and likes to watch movies. Whatever it takes! A supply of juice also helps!I am right there with you, and thank you for saying it! I have experienced the same thing before. Every time he does ANYTHING I get the nasty glares from "the Stepford wives" is what I like to call them
The moms at the playground who think I'm just a bad mom. I even went into debt buying my son expensive Gymboree clothing because I was so worried about what kind of impression he made on people! I'm getting more to the not caring mode, but it still hurts. It is even worse now that that KIDS walk away from him or make fun of him 
but I remember when the moms would suddenly need to "leave" the park or encourage their kids to another direction. The scary thing is - can you imagine if we ended up BEING one of those moms if we hadn't had our special kids??? I shudder just thinking about it 
[QUOTE=Linda11567]I'm sorry you went through that. I had a similiar experience at the opthamologist for Andrew. I was SO mad!!!!!! I thought it was a pedi opthamologist, but it was a HUGE office with tons of drs and probably 20-30 people in a huge waiting room. They had a childrens section but it wasn't that seperated, and we waited 30 minutes for them to insist he had to have drop in his eyes through which he SCREAMED and then sent us back out there for another 30 minutes. Talk about stares. He wouldn't let the dr touch him by that point and I told them no less than 5 times I had 2 autistic children with me. It was a nightmare. Is there a way you can talk to the dr so that wait times can be avoided and if not if you can wait in an exam room?[/QUOTE]
I wonder if we live the same place because I had the exact same experience. To make it worse, the guy ended up giving ds a bad Rx. I knew the glasses were wrong when I saw how much correction they were. There would be NO WAY you could read if your eyes were that bad, and ds was hyperlexic. We found another ped and he ended up giving him a much more mild prescription. (which ds still won't wear, but the doctor said that he might be compensating for it at this point, but as soon as he started straining, get the glasses on him)
Sorry you had such a bad experience at your dr's office. Maybe you should ring around (or even better go in person) other GP's offices and tell them your story and find somewhere that will get him in straight away.My Dr's office is excellent with Sharlet but I did have to shop around so to speak.
Good Luck
I'm sorry you had a bad experience. Here's a free brochure called "Your Next Patient Has Autism" -- might help.
http://www.nslij.com/workfiles/autism/YourNextPatient.pdf
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