My adopted son was exposed to meth inutero and neglected for the first 2 years of his life, can I get an MRI ?

Question:

I have heard of an MRI checking for brain damage. He has expressive language disorder, also problems with comprehension, retention of information, and receptive language. He is 5, still puts things in his mouth, cannot understand me sometimes. I'm scared hes misdiagnosed. No one will help. I have tried a Pediatrician (medi-cal) the school speech person, an aoption social worker, etc.
They all pass it onto someone else. he's falling WAY behind.

Answers:
Are you near the Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital or the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio? They are wonderful places to go & they have experts in all fields of medicine. Their pediatric doctors are awesome, as are their other specialists.. If you aren't able to go to there, get on the web & find a clinic that specializes in problems your adopted son has. I hope this will be a lesson to those women on meth who are pregnant or want to be pregnant in the future. I hope you find the help your son needs real soon. It's a shame that so many people only want to pass the buck. Keep searching, as the help is out there. :)

If your insurance alows you to see specialists your best bet would be a child psychiatrist (if you can find one in your area), a child psychologist working in conjunction with a physician could also be helpful.

Have they tested him for autism?
somethings will & some things won't show up in MRI

If I were you, I woud want one, if for no other reason than to rule out as much as possible

ask the pediatrician to order one for you
or change pediatricians

also I would recommend taking the child to a child psychiatrist for cognative and behavioral evalutations

additional info... Edited from the version I e-mail you:

I am guessing since an MRI is a medical procedure that the only person who can order is goign to be Pediatrician or Child Psychiatrist

I am glad you are in Cali (on Med-Cal) cuz if you were here (in AL) your only chouce would be to pay for this out of pocket (and that is over a thousand dollars).. no matter what doctor ordered it

Unfortunately, it takes a questionable diagnosis for a doctor to order a test (otherwise they get blasted and potentially sued for mis-use of "the system").. so you gotta work with them.. to get what you need

Not a Psychologist, they don't have MD... it is going to have be Child Psychiatrist or Pediatrician to order an MRI

i will pray you can get help for your son

If you know he was exposed to meth, then you also know he has brain damage. An MRI won't tell you much else.

It seems like your main problem is getting him the help he needs.
Ask your school about an IEP -- individual education plan.
Ask your adoption facilitator about programs for drug-exposed kids.

The resources are out there, you just have to be persistent.

I feel for you -- my adopted son was born before meth was so widespread, but he was exposed to heroin, cocaine and crack, plus alcohol.

I have never done a brain MRI on a person (child or adult) to check for brain damage done due to drug exposure. I wish you the best..

My adopted son was exposed to meth inutero and neglected for the first 2 years of his life, can I get an MRI ?

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