2. Referral: Children are rarely self-referred: their parents or other adults decide the child needs help and seeks it out. The first task of a clinician working with children is to determine whether or not a problem actually exists. Intolerance, ignorance, and misconceptions on the part of the adult may be the reason for the referral. Indeed, parents’ referral of their child may be more a factor of their own emotional state. Other problems in referral are that certain behaviors may be overlooked.  Parents, teachers, and other adults who refer a child for help, may underidentify children with certain disturbances because those disturbances are less salient or troublesome to them.  For example: the child who withdraws from social contact will not be as salient as the child who disrupts class, and so may not be identified as needing help. Continue reading →