help please - freaking out
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| Thu, 01-26-2006 - 2:25pm |
I got a note home from Sylvia's preschool teacher that basically said that Sylvia has "not been herself" for the past couple of days. She's been staring off into space and not paying attention, and the teacher has even had a difficult time getting Sylvie to participate in circle time (which Sylvie normally LOVES -- she IS the circle time girl). The note ended by saying, "We just thought you should know."
!!!???
I am really alarmed by this, mostly because I didn't see it coming at all. She's been doing *so* well at school, and I haven't seen any indication of regression at home -- which maybe is a good sign? She was sick earlier in the week -- had a fever Monday afternoon/evening, and I kept her home from school Tuesday but she's been fever free since Tuesday morning. Maybe she's just still a bit worn out from being sick? Also, if anything, she's been MORE interactive at home: she hasn't wanted to be in her room alone very much, wants to play games with me, has been doing all sorts of interactive things with me and with her brother... So I really don't know what to make of this. Perhaps she's on the verge of making a developmental leap?
Anyway, I think what we'll do is watch her for the next couple of days and see if she snaps out of it. But if she's still spacing out in school next week, I'll need to figure out what to do. So... what do I do??? Who do I even talk to? We've seen a developmental pediatrician once, for the diagnosis, but I can't really say that I clicked with him... He didn't spend much time with us (45 minutes) and didn't really watch Sylvie play or anything -- just relied on the info I gave him from Sylvia's school district assessment to give us the diagnosis. He really wanted us to get an MRI of her brain, which DH and I don't want to do, but beyond that he didn't mention any follow-up appointment with him or anything like that. So I don't know that he's the guy I want to call with these kinds of concerns. But if not him, who??? Should I be finding a better developmental pediatrician? Or should I be looking into getting her more therapy, perhaps ABA or floortime in the afternoons???
I know I'm totally freaking out... This just came out of the blue and smacked me across the face. Plus Sebastian just had his EI assessment and I'm all concerned about him possibly being on the spectrum, and I was so relieved that at least Sylvie is getting the help she needs and is making progress... I just don't know if I can handle all this right now...
Jennifer

jen,
just an fyi--st. james is a petri dish of germs right now. matt has been in and out of school for a week. fever on and off. just not himself. sleep is off. behaviors all over the place and now lil brother has it too.
so, the virus going around there lasts at least a week. my kids are on antibiotics which haven't helped much either. she likely has an illness still and just isn't back to her norm.
i've been giving my guys lots of fluids, vitamin c and tylenol. maybe it's the same thing mine have? Valerie
Dear Jennifer,
She was sick Monday. That's very very likely all it is. Being sick is very stressful for our kids, plus she may not be recovered 100 %, even though she's still fever free. You will often read posts here about kids being "whacked" out of shape for awhile after being sick. And anyways, in the scheme of things, 2 days is not alot of time here, so she should start to bounce back after the weekend. Wait and see. A regression will be much more obvious than what you are describing, sounds like sickness aftermath. And the more clingy is common, too, being sick is really more frightening to our kids! Who don't understand lots of what is going on around them, very scary to suddenly feel crappy and not really understand the concept or what happened...
The other possibility is that something happened at school that she is upset about and doesn't know how to deal with, but the sickness seems more likely. If it is the other, that will also show up in other ways while at school.
(((((HUGS))))) to you, lots on your plate, up and down. This is all very stressful, but it is way too soon to decide she is regressing. She will probably be quite fine when she is all recovered and has some time to relax and feel more like herself.
yours,
Sara
ilovemalcolm
Try not to worry. I also think it's probably due to her being sick. As far as your son goes don't freak out yet. I know how hard it is to think you have another child with issues. I went through the same thing with Ella recently and I felt like if she too was on the spectrum it just would be too much for me to handle.To be honest she's harder to manage at times because she is so sensory and cries easily. Somedays I'm just about ready to crack.When I had Jake at the developmental ped this week she had a quick look at Ella and said she felt she was fine except for the sensory problems. I was relieved but still am nervous about the fact she's using echolia which I've been told is normal speech development.Our house is like a revolving door of therapists(LOL).
Teresa
Thank you guys so much... I feel really silly that I immediately assumed the worst. You're right: she's probably still feeling under the weather. Val, I had no idea that was going around St. James. Are your kids feeling better? We're keeping Sylvie home today, in hopes that she'll get some rest over the 3-day weekend and start to feel more herself.
I think that note just brought up a really primal fear of mine -- that Sylvie will get worse and we'll start to lose her. It's just so terrifying. Thanks so much for snapping me out of it, though -- I feel so much better after reading your posts!
Jennifer