Trouble Finding New Paediatrician

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Our lovely Paediatrician who diagnosed 2 of my 3 sons has retired.

So now we're looking for a new Paediatrician.

We were referred to 'the best' - well he sure knows how to charge lots of money!

Within a couple of minutes of the first consultation he said, "I don't accept other people's diagnosis. And I suppose you want me to sign pieces of paperwork and I won't do that until I'm satisfied".

Obviously the Psychology, Speech Pathology, Paediatrician and school reports weren't up to his lofty standard.

Actually, I don't need him to sign anything .... the kids have their IEP's and are registered as having Asperger's with Education Queensland and I get a Carer Payment and a Health Care Card.

Fair enough he needs to do his own assesment, but his manner was arrogant and "I'm God" during the consultation.

2 hours and $660 later he won't tell me anything because "we can't rush these things. That's not the way I operate." He demands my husband attend the next appointment because he "wants to see how our family unit operates". So we have another appointment in 2 weeks.

Then I get an e-mail saying he will write an Autism Management Plan for the boys at $300 each on top of the next consultation.

Sigh. I'll go back with my husband but unless I feel more comfortable during the second appointment I'll have to keep looking.

I sacked the very first Paediatrician because she wanted to put my then 6 year old son straight on Zoloft (he'd just been diagnosed and hadn't had any intervention/IEP). When I told her I didn't want him on Zoloft until we'd tried other stuff first she got quite aggressive.

Has anyone else had trouble finding a decent Paediatrician?

Helen

yeah it is an industry......they are making money out of it.
anxious mother and AS is big bucks......

what do you do?

get angry?

yeah


get even?

maybe

get the diagnosis?

yeah get it.

was it tony attwood out of curiosity.

im originally from brizzy.

That doctor sounds like a fellow to run away from.

Smelena,

Unless several people THAT YOU KNOW, and THAT HAVE ****PERSONAL**** EXPERIENCE, tell YOU PERSONALLY that he is the best, DON'T BELIEVE IT! Entire industries have been FOOLED!

Anyway, I say DUMP HIM!

I know it sucks since you have already laid down a good chunk of money, but if he has a God complex, how is he going to relate to a child/children that do not conform to expectations? his is coming from the mom that spent a good chunk of change and time this summer with a psych that at the first meeting made me feel he was a little "off". I couldn't put my finger on it, so I kept going. And the fact that I didn't want to have wasted the money I had already spent. I wound up wasting more money and time with a guy who wouldn't listen to anything I said because he was an expert (his own words). I bit the bullet and dumped him for a psych that actually interacted with my child and let me talk his ear off about symptoms/worries etc. and gave me a plan so that I knew how to proceed.

I also agree 2ukenkerl that unless people you know are saying he's the best, don't necessarily believe it. Anyone can write their own "references", especially online.

Why does a pediatrician need to see how your family operates? It really sounds like he is billing you to the max. It should not be about his wants. It should be about what you and your children need from him.

try this..ask him if their is any objective test for AS ( there isnt)

then ask him to justify what he asks you to do ( and charge for the privelege)

he may get annoyed with you or may answer.
i find that psychologists will have a posse of speech therapists, occupational therapists, music therapists.
who are keen to get a slice of the action and take a chunk of your money.

some will refer you for gluten tests/allergies, MRI scans, ask for a detailed 1 hour history questionaire that you have to fill out on front of them and get charged to do.

there is a cottage industry...Austism in the new AIDs, the new Cancer...it cant be cured and becauswe there is bo objective test for it.......everyone has an opinion , everyone charges for thei opinion, EVERYONE CASHES IN.

a new cottage industry and it is booming.

oh they will also provide you with a book they have written to read. and charge you for that too.

annoyed?

yeah i am.

To me, it sounds like a lot of excuses to run up bills.

It's funny, we've not talked much about the AS with my son's pediatrician. We did get a referral years ago for further assessment, but never found it necessary to follow up, since to my eyes assuming my child is AS, and having an IEP that assumes he is, takes care of pretty much everything.

I guess I've been happy with that approach from our pediatrician, that if there isn't anything we need from him about it, it's all good. He has a note on it, but I think that's it, lol.

So I guess the question is, what are you expecting from the pediatrician with respect to this particular aspect of your children's care, and what does he think you are expecting? Are you all on the same page? It rather sounds like you are not ...

i'd trust your first instincts..........god complexes do not go away......find someone new- ask other local AS parents that you know for their reccomendations....if you don't know any other local AS parents, try seeing if you can find a parent of a kid with ADHD......good luck

Reading this thread , makes me very glad we have a public health system here, so worrying that a Dr or Therapist is just in it for the money is not a concern. Everything is free, unless you chose to seek additional or extra therapy or consultation outside the public health services.

This new pedeatrician you have sounds like a real ego-maniac. I hope things work out, you should tell him that studies have shown that children should not be put on any psychoanalytical drugs because their brains are still growing. I'm not sure if you have a black box warning on psychoanalytical drugs here, the black box we have says that giving a psychoanalytical drug to a child could possibly increase suicidal ideation. I don't want to upset you, but the guy you're currently with sounds like a quack.

The paed we go to is very nice (I'm in Melbourne) but I think I'm going to change because he's a bit too keen to medicate my son. Everytime in the past I asked for a script for melatonin, he insisted my son needed Risperidone!! !

No way. I just wanted something that would help him get to sleep, not an antipsychotic.

So yeah, finding a good paed is really tricky. It's like trying to find a good dentist and a good hairdresser .

Temma