Hi All,
I stumbled upon this site whilst researching some of my concerns online. I am on a rollercoaster ride of something's not right to maybe I'm imagining it to she's fine and back again with my just 5yr old daughter (H). So I will give you the background, your advice, experience, idea's etc would be much appreciated. We have some diagnosis issues already, but for the last 3 years I have just felt that there is something not quite right, and though some things have improved dramatically overall I am more convinced something is not right. I think part of the problem is overlapping issues and my oldest daughter (K) 7yr old seemed perfectly typical until 3/4, she is now diagnosis as ADD, Anxiety Disorder & sensory processing disorder (SPD) (she also has a high IQ, adjusted score for her diagnosis has her as gifted) so maybe I am just expecting the wrong things from H. We use diet (additive free), Occupational Therapist (OT) & behaviourial therapy for K, so I do apply what I know from these things on H as well.
H is a very sweet, affectionate, curious & happy child, when she is getting what she wants and stimulated she is a dream. She was full term natural birth. Other than Hypertension (in me) & severe morning sickness there were no issues or complications for pregnancy or birth. We had major issues getting her to feed for the first month, at first we thought it was reflux (K had silent reflux) but soon worked out it was dairy intolerence (not lactose) after that she was an easy baby, slept well, ate well, developed well though at the later end of normal for most things. At around 11 months she started getting regularly ill, nothing overly serious just constant (more than the average) by 18 months she was hospitalised and diagnosis with C. Difficile (bateria inbalance) She also started putting things in her nose constantly and we made many a trip to the dr/hospital to get the latest thing out as they were usually shoved so far up it needed medical attention. She used to rip her hair out regularly, though this was sensory and has eased, but she still has a lot of sensory issues (as you'll probably notice below). She also has a mild speech delay, she can not make c/k or t sounds (at any point in the word)
At 2 she was diagnosis as severely longsighted, she has had glasses ever since. Each 6 months she is retested and scripts changed to adjust. Her vision has not improved at all, infact its gotten worse essentially. She now appears to have lazy eye and hence no depth perception. We are waiting to see the opthamologist to work out best next step.
Her dairy intolerence seemed to have gone away, but we are not so sure now. When she was 3 I was very concerned about her eating habits, they were excessive. She was eating more than most adults, had severe bloating but not gaining weight. We got an endoscopy and they found she had chronic giardia (basically what happens after an acute bout if some of the parasites are not expelled, they take all the nutrients but don't cause vomitting/diarrhea symptoms) The doctors put everything down to this and felt there was no need to explore intolerences. Her bloating has never gone away (we have trialled going off dairy and it helps but does not eliminate the problem) she still eats excessively (but has times of barely eating, really don't know if it is due to growth spurts or not) Her bloating is pretty extreme, and her tummy differs by 8cm morning to night (sometimes more). She gets a rash around her mouth regularly too.
She has always been a child that needed/wanted alot of attention otherwise she would be "into things" even if she knew it was wrong she would do it, but it always seemed like she couldn't help herself. I put it down to age. She is now five and if anything it has gotten worse some examples are she will always empty out shampoo/conditioner bottles if left in sight, she can not use soap with out squishing it into pieces, she will constantly unroll the toilet paper roll and leave it on the floor, we regularly find bite marks out of food in the fridge (like cheese, chocolate, fruit), She breaks things all the time (accidentally), she is always to rough with animals (more that she is too affectionate and just doesn't seem to understand she is hurting them), she rips crayon wrappers off crayons even when told not to over and over (she can't stop herself), talks for the sake of talking, doesn't seem to hear/understand alot of the time. And a million other things on a daily basis. Basically if you leave her alone you can guarantee she will get into something. We have tried reward charts, time outs, taking things away, talking, explaing etc etc. When we ask her why we are angry, upset etc she can most time tell us why and understands that what she has done is wrong. She will promise to never do it again or try harder etc but usually that same day or very soon after she is doing it again and will repeat the I'm sorry and I wont do it again. She avoids things likem cleaning her room (I know all kids do) but she will go to the extreme of putting herself to bed instead of cleaning (even if it is 1 hour after she got up) if you sit in her room and tell her step by step what to do, like pick that top up put it on the 2nd shelf. Pick the pony up put it in the toy box she will eventually do it, but with whinging etc. We have tried removing everything from her room, but although she gets upset she doesn't make any changes. Tried positive re-inforcement etc.
She is a lot better at school, though has issues with personal space (invading others). I know school is better for her as it is constant stimulation, she is also in a class with some very disruptive/time-consuming students so I think she isn't as hard to deal with if that makes sense.
We have seen a child counsellor (was useless), speech pathologist (diagnosis the speech delay, doing exercises etc), Occupational Therapist (diagnosis sensory processing disorder, was through public system though and we are no longer able to access as she is not severe enough, on waiting list to see a private one), Pead's one that specialises in Behaviourial disorders, he said he is not sure yet but wouldn't be surprised by ADHD/ADD diagnosis but at same time wouldn't be surprised if she didn't get diagnosis either. Another pead that specialises in Gastrointestinal disorders, he diagnosis the Giardia, I am seeing GP next week to get a referal to go back about intolerence concerns.
Sorry it so long, but felt I had to explain all the issues so you got a full picture. Basically I just feel that something is not right, she is a bright young girl and it is obvious to me she is trying to be good but just can't seem to help herself, this opinion is shared by friends and family members (well the ones whose opinion I care about) I am constantly wondering if I am just expecting too much of her, or if it's just her personality but then something happens and I just know it's more than that.
