Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Doctor, Doctor Give Me The News

A few months ago we were really having discipline problems with Konner. He was aggressive in class, defiant, and had trouble focusing. One of our speech therapists recommended that we visit a doctor in Edmond who she had heard about. After talking on the phone with him, Jen decided that we needed to see him, and shortly after were on our way to our first appointment with Dr. Jon Roth.

Before I get into what Dr. Roth has done to help us with Konner let me give a little of his credentials. Just by checking out his web page at www.jonrothmd.com you can see from the homepage that he is “dedicated to helping families by evaluating children with developmental and behavioral issues.” This means he is geared toward any developmental and behavior issues, not just autism. He graduated from Mount Sinai Medical School in 1984. According to the site: “ I continued my training as a physician with a pediatric residency at the University of Connecticut and then a three year fellowship in neonatology at the University of Texas at Houston. In 2008, he began to focus on children with developmental and behavioral issues. Some of these include: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), developmental delay, mood disorder, school problems, oppositional disorder, sleep disorder, and neonatal follow-ups.

When we first met with Dr. Roth I realized that he was knowledgeable in these areas. He is also very personable. He’s really about working with the families and the children to get the best possible care. He talks in a way that you can easily understand and is really good with the kids. When you call his office you usually talk to him rather than a receptionist or nurse. You actually get to discuss your issues with the doctor. Jen has called him about several different issues, and he is very open to your problems and input. We explained that we are about three hours away, and he works with us on issues that he can through phone calls. What he can’t deal with on the phone we work out in reasonably scheduled appointments.

The other thing I was impressed with is the fact that he doesn’t just work with one medicine and stick with it. When Konner had to have an EEG a few years back we talked to the neurologist about how he works with medicines. One thing he said was that some doctors have their favorites and they stick with them regardless of the child’s reactions to them. All children are different and react differently because of body chemistry. That is why the neurologist would work about eight different meds in two week intervals and see which ones worked better. He would monitor the entire process and if the child seemed to be zombified or “zoned out” he would either discontinue or cut back the dosage. Dr. Roth has a similar approach. He was worked with us on our medicines with Konner. There are some that seemed to not work, and others that he just couldn’t take for ingestion reasons. Dr. Roth worked with us to get something that helped.

He uses input from the parents, teachers, and other people in the child’s life to help get the most information for your child. He uses that information to medicate in the best way for the patient.

He has worked with Konner on his focus in school and at home as well as his behavior problems. The meds that he has prescribed for the ADHD symptoms seem to help out. We are now trying some different medicines to help with the behavior/mood issues that Konner is having.

The website also says that he will be an advocate for your child. “I will work with the child's school and other health care professionals to provide your child with the best care possible. These professionals include special education teachers, pediatricians, psychologists, speech and language therapists, and occupational and physical therapists. Beyond the initial evaluation, I will provide ongoing support for your child.”

If you’re having any of these issues I highly recommend giving Dr. Roth a call. He may be a little out of the way for some of us, but it seems to be worth it, at least for us.

Disclaimer: I am in no way claiming to be an expert. I’m just a father who is trying to learn as much about Autism as I can to help my child. I hope that you all can learn from me, and I from you. I ask anyone who has questions or comments about something I have written, or autism, please contact me at pervasiveparenting@hotmail.com. I will try to answer questions as I have time, and if I find it interesting enough I may touch on it in my column.




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