Posted: Tuesday, April 01, 2014
When a school district, teachers and students’ families make the choice to enroll a student in The Providence Center School, everyone has questions, hopes and fears. During the process, they might be asking: Is this going to work? Can this school solve these behavior problems and help my child learn? Will my child be able to go to school with “regular” kids again? Will he be able to succeed in a job, or maybe even go to college someday?
Sometimes, finding the answers is not that simple, but it is Dr. Kazi’s commitment to helping children and families through difficult times and the work of his team of clinicians, nurses and case workers that makes success possible.
Dr. Kazi Salahuddin, TPC’s pediatric psychiatrist affectionately known as “Dr. Kazi,” is an integral part of the TPC School team. He meets regularly with the TPC School clinical team to stay informed on each student’s progress. “As many other TPC School teachers and staff have said before, the team approach to helping students meet their academic and clinical goals is most effective,” said Dr. Kazi. “Each week when I meet with the program team, I’m at a table full of experts offering solutions to meet the needs of each student.”
Dr. Kazi’s location on site at TPC School presents a number of advantages for TPC School students and staff. When a student is in crisis, Dr. Kazi is only a few offices away for immediate support. “With Dr. Kazi here, we’re able to respond to a student’s needs without delay,” said Dr. Erin Lane, clinical director of TPC School. “This is critical to addressing the situation right away so we can get the student back on track for a successful transition to their community school.”
Mental health treatment often relies on a patient’s report of their symptoms. When families meet with a child psychiatrist, the child might not be displaying the problem behavior at that time. And, while parents describe the child’s behavior as best they can, sometimes explaining that their child is “bouncing off the walls” or is “out of control” doesn’t mean, for example, that he has an ADHD issue.
Being on-site allows Dr. Kazi make direct observations that help him develop a more effective treatment plan for a student because he is able to observe the child in a variety of situations—in class, at play, socially during lunch. Dr. Kazi also has access to direct reports from teachers and the family support team that help in diagnostic clarification. “When I can see how the child interacts with others, their reactions to certain situations, I come to a more accurate diagnosis and subsequently, a treatment plan that will work for the child and the family,” said Dr. Kazi. “So, that ‘bouncing-off-the-wall’ child could really be dealing with anxiety or some other condition, not hyperactivity as the parent sees it.”
“When a child I have been seeing is now earning As and Bs in school and is no longer struggling with emotional or behavioral difficulties, it makes all of my work worthwhile.”
