22m Daughter Neurological Issues?

[Teasangelmom]

Hi everyone,
Im just posting to get some opinions,I have a 22 month old daugther,who is my precious little angel,but she does have some issues. She cant be tested for anything until she hits 2(according to the centers rules) but here are the issues she has: If water touches her shirt she screams like shes going to die until you change or shirt/help her take it off,she cant stand having certain textures touch her hands(like pudding),if she does get food on her hand she screams until you help her clean her hands,she yells if things are out of place in our house,she doesnt allow anyone she doesnt know near her(which is great) except its bad when you enter a store with her and she sees a stranger screams and refuses to move. Im sure Im forgetting some of her other idiosycrises,but Im four months pregnant and my brain is gone To me her issues are completly normal and I accept her for who she is,its just part of what makes me love her and makes her even more special to me. Ive had other strangers on the street tell me shes not normal and shes weird for the things she does,Ive told them,not so nicely that shes normal to me and I think shes perfect just the way she is. If she does wind up having a developmental or other type of special needs disorder it wont change how we live our life together,shell always be my precious little girl. Im just more wanting opinions if any of you have seen this before? Mind you,I had the same issues she does(and still have some of them even now---at almost 30 years old) but I had PT,OT and ST for 7 years to fix some of my more majorly severe disabilities,my oldest son,now 11 also has the same issues. Matt wasnt diagnosed with autism so far,but its just something that me/my children seem to have,any thoughts?

 

[Teasangelmom]

Sorry! Told you Id forget something! LOL.
Wanted to mention she does talk A LOT,she expresses deep love and affection for the people she cares about(me,her dad,her dog,and her grandparents,plus a store owner who she thinks of as a second dad. lol),she also tries to brush her hair/teeth(I help),she tries to dress herself,puts on her own shoes,feeds herself with her hands/spoon and fork,walks runs,throws/kicks a ball) etc. Im not thinking autism but to be honest I dont know much about any other special needs disorders so have no real idea what to look at? Thank you for reading!

 

[Nibblenic]

Sounds like some sensory issues, however she is very young I would just try to work with them over time.

My daughter would scream like you were killing her for any white noise, hoovers were a big problem. Over the years shes built a tolerance. From avoiding hearing it all together to letting her be in the next room, to warning her it was going to happen in the same room now she can hoover herself at 8. She has many sensory issues but you just have to work around them and help them build tolerances where you can

 

[Teasangelmom]

Sounds like some sensory issues, however she is very young I would just try to work with them over time.

My daughter would scream like you were killing her for any white noise, hoovers were a big problem. Over the years shes built a tolerance. From avoiding hearing it all together to letting her be in the next room, to warning her it was going to happen in the same room now she can hoover herself at 8. She has many sensory issues but you just have to work around them and help them build tolerances where you can

Thank you for your advice! I work around the majority of her issues except the few that she HAS to deal with(like walking past people in public) where I work with her on coping with it. I know shes young,I just want to do everything possible to help her.

 

[superfrizbee]

It does sound sensory. I would be keen to have an occupational therapist with sensory experience give their opinion. There's lots they might suggest to help manage what she finds difficult, including sensory brushing etc. I'm surprised they haven't offered you help sooner and would certainly push for it asap.

 

[WackyMumof2]

The texture thing sounds like SPD. We are pretty sure we are dealing with that with Master 9 but are having an issue with being taken seriously by specialists. Things out of place upsetting her could be OCD and the screaming around strangers as well as some general behaviour you have described sounds like Autism is a possibility. But when we had DS1 tested (he's within the spectrum but not enough to be diagnosed due to other factors at play) the compassion took him out of the Autism/Asperger's spectrum. While it's not unheard of for these kinds of children to have compassion, it's is very unusual even though he doesn't understand sarcasm which is generally hand in hand from my understanding. I have a friend with an Autistic brother and I remember she said he often acted like your daughter with the screaming.

It's also worth noting that even if there is something going on that you didn't expect, a lot of conditions go hand in hand with the primary diagnosis. Take DS2 and his ADHD for example. For him, he's got sleeping issues, OCD, ODD, fascination with fire and has an impulse to steal. The stealing and fascination with fire is hard to deal with as he's compelled by impulse. He knows it's wrong but until he does it the impulse doesn't go away. And he regrets it afterwards but can't explain why he did it. Sometimes, and vary, very rarely, does he break out in rages he has no control over nor does he remember the incident (once called Blind Rage although not sure of the medical term now). All these go hand in hand with ADHD - not always mind you, but often. The Blind Rage we can't really get any help in regards to as these are very isolated events so there is not enough documentation from our end of things to confirm or deny this so it's a case of managing when it does happen and it's not always easy espcially when people (usually myself) get seriously hurt.

Every child, regardless of what may/or not be going on is special in their own way. And it can be distressing for both parent and child without answers. But she sounds very lucky to have such a wonderful mother who accepts her for her 'normal'. Sounds like your little chatterbox is off to an amazing start in life.

 

[Teasangelmom]

Thank you very much WackyMum for your input Im still waiting to here back from a specialist to get her seen. The autism clinic here wont see her because they dont believe she has autism But the Childrens Center will since they specialize in a wide range of issues. Im just waiting to hear back from them and hopefully get her seen as soon as she hits 24 months old. Im sorry to hear your having trouble being taken seriously. My husbands family does that,tells me theres nothing wrong with Tea and I KNOW there is something going on with her,even SPD would explain a lot of her issues. Im trusting my insticts and getting her seen by a specialist. I want her to get the help she needs if she does indeed need help.
Ive heard of the blind range your son has,thank goodness Tea doesnt have that,I couldnt imagine dealing with that as a major part of my daily life. The issues she does have are enough for me to deal with. I love Tea to pieces as Im sure you love your son and we do what we have to for them,because we are there mothers. No matter what the end result is whether Tea is diagnosed with SPD(which Im just about certain of) or something else entirely shes my daugther,my world and I will be here for her no matter what. Im four months pregnant with our second child and honestly if Tea does have something I want to know in case my second child could have it too and that way I could get the second child help earlier if he/she needs it.
Thank you so much for your last comment,that really means a lot to me. I try to do my best to help Tea and I defend her to anyone that may put her down,call her weird,or give her evil stares for screaming at them for coming near her. I dont let anyone talk down to my child,she has some issues with her world,the world should NOT have issues with her. Its the way she is. I love her Thank you again

 

[WackyMumof2]

I try to do my best to help Tea and I defend her to anyone that may put her down,call her weird,or give her evil stares for screaming at them for coming near her. I dont let anyone talk down to my child,she has some issues with her world,the world should NOT have issues with her. Its the way she is. I love her Thank you again

THAT ^^ annoys me greatly!! People judge because they just see a 'naughty' child and don't stop and think that other factors may be in play. One piece of advice I WILL give you in regards to such horrible people though is don't give them the satisfaction of any kind of reaction. While I know it's a parent's automatic reaction to stick up for their child, you don't owe them any explanation either. Just remember, you will probably never see that person again anyhow. And keep on top of the hospital until that appointment comes though too!!

I'm not too stressed about being taken seriously about the SPD. While it would allow us that extra funding under disability for weighted blankets, compression clothing etc for him, as long as we are aware of what we are certain is in play, that's all that matters. But it would be nice for him to be able to explain to other children why he is different when they start telling him he's weird. For him, giving other children an education about why he's the way is he would be cruital but again, it comes down to be taken seriously. DS2 we started the ball rolling at 2 in regards to ADHD but we kept getting told he was a 'normal' toddler. It took 5.5 years to get an offical diagnosis and the first 5 minutes of meeting with his new Psychiatrist, he looked at us and said 'I've been diagnosing children with ADHD for 20 years. If he does not have ADHD, then I have failed ever child I have ever worked with'. That gave us the confirmation that we really were not crazy even after one person tried to tell us that he was a 'good as gold' at their place. Yep, because children THRIVE on routine. And just because he can focus on coloring or LEGO, doesn't mean anything. You give an un-medicated ADHD child something that catches their attention, you won't hear from them for hours!

In regards to the SPD you are certain about, try and track down a copy of 'The Out-of-Sync Child'. It really is a valuable book and a really good eye-opener. Best of luck on your journey forward for your daughter.

One last important bit of advice for you. Over the coming months (and maybe even years) you will be pushed back time and time again with 'Specialists' telling you that you don't know what your talking about, your paranoid, your child is normal so on and so forth. No one know a child better than the parent so push, push, push until you are heard and taken seriously!! It may be them who make the call but we know what we are talking about!! And you owe it to your little girl as a parent too. I always have said if they keep telling us there is nothing of concern after all this then I will take that with pride. My first concern is my son and even if it turns out there is nothing at play, then I know that I did what I had to do for him.

 

[Teasangelmom]

People always judge other people,its the way we are. But that doesnt give adults the rights to call a very young child abnormal or get upset with me as her mother for her not "behaving" the way other 2 year olds. She has some problems so yes she does scream sometimes at people,its her way of telling them to stay away and to let me know she doesnt feel safe. She cant tell me why she feels or reacts the way she does to situations,but as her mother I can interupret what shes feeling. Thats why Im pushing so hard for her to be seen. I have to make another phone call tomorrow to try and get her an appointment as they still havent called me back and its been a week. urg. I understand their busy and their kids with more severe issues than Tea,but shes my daugther and I want her to get the help she needs now before she gets any older and its harder for her to adjust to the world.
Your kids sound like their in really good hands with you! Never backing down as a parent is the way to go,if you KNOW in your gut that something is an issue for your child then they are owed the help from doctors,not the runaround that always seems to happem. URG. Irritates me to no end!
I think my mom has a copy of the Out Of Sync Child for my oldest son(long story short they adopted him to protect him from his very abusive birth father,got me out of that dangerous relationship and I see him at least 3 weekends a month!) I can ask her,as my oldest son has ADHD and some other issues. If she still has it Ill ask to borrow it. My mom is one of my biggest supporters,for both my daugther and during my pregnancy. Shes helping me get Tea into the clinic and if they dont answer me by tomorrow afternoon my mother will be calling and raising hell since they see Matthew(my oldest) for his problems. Sounds silly but if I dont get a response from someone or someone reacts rudely they answer to either my husband(and you DONT mess with me or his babies) or my mother(who fiercely loves her granddaugther.) I have my husband or my mother deal with people if I have trouble with getting help or a proper response because I have such severe anxiety/hearing loss that dealing with conflict causes me SEVERE issues In person NO you will not go near myself or my child without being very respectful but over the phone dealing with conflict like that I cant seem to cope
Sorry that was so long winded! Thank you for telling me your story