Back to the paediatrician today.  My daughter has a diagnosis, but the paed won't fill out the form for Carer's Allowance because I didn't agree to medication straight away.  I think that medication is needed in some cases, and I would agree without hesitation if I thought my child needed it, but sometimes there are more natural ways to deal with problems.  Unfortunately, the prescription medication is subsidised whereas the more natural remedies are often expensive.  It's not like my child is out of control, has violent outbursts, that sort of thing.  She does have meltdowns at certain things, and this can be limited by reducing the chance of it happening, like going shopping at quiet times, keeping order and structure to the house, keeping routines the same, limiting the amount of changes that occur, or change things at a much slower pace.  She can be helped with the meltdowns by using herbal remedies that calm kids right down.  Once I'm back working and have the available finances, I'll be able to purchase that product.  Rescue Remedy doesn't work with my daughter, it doesn't reduce the frequency or severity of the meltdowns in any way at all.  There's another one on the market that will be worth trying, though.

The paediatrician mentioned 2 weeks ago that because we are vegetarian, my daughter's iron level will be low and that may be the cause of some the behaviours.  She rang yesterday and said she was surprised that my daughter's blood tests have shown that her levels are spot-on with everything.  Goes to show that even vegetarian families are providing their children with all the vitamins and minerals they need in a day.

The paediatrician also hasn't written her report, which means the school still has nothing to go on other than what I tell them after an appointment.  I know she's just being thorough and wants to make sure that the conditions she's diagnosed are not a symptom of something else before writing out the report, but until the report is done my child can't get the extra help she needs at school and the problems aren't officially recognised.

I'm going into today's appointment with 2 goals: To get the Carer's Allowance form filled out so I can start actually being able to afford to help my child and to pay for her paed appointments without having to reduce our groceries each week; and to get her to write up a report stating the 2 conditions she's already diagnosed so the school can have a copy of the report and put things in place to help my daughter day to day.