variable behavior

[Guest guest]

Hello Everyone,

I have a question for you about my daughter´s behavior. I have been

keeping a careful record of my daughter a, 2.1, still undiagnosed,

with language and motor delays, and have observed that she has " good " days

and " bad " days. On good days ,she appears much more focused and

responsive, reacts faster to instructions, and is much more verbal. On bad

days, she has a dazed look, is a lot clumsier and less focused and

sociable. I have not yet been able to establish a clear relation with food

or her day´s activities. Does any one have a similar situation with their

child so that you could clue me into what to look for? Could it be her

routines, the amount of time spent with me (she is very attached), certain

stress, food consumption? I would greatly appreciate your input.

Thanks,

[Guest guest]

I would keep a food diary, paying particular attention to the times your

daughter has dairy products, or products containing gluten (the protein found

in wheat and some other grains). There is a theory that some of our kids do

not digest these substances properly, and the undigested peptides can

circulate through the body and wind up acting as opiates, attaching to

receptors in the brain which control speech/communication.

We have been very successful in eliminating casein (milk protein found in

cheese, butter, yogurt, etc.) and gluten. My son came out of his " fog " and

started becoming more verbal.

We can tell when he's had a slip-up.

For more info check out www.gfcfdiet.com

-BJ in polis, MD

[Guest guest]

That's pretty young. Do you have other children? Is this reaction

noticiably different then their behavior? Have you talked to your

pediatrician?

I know 2 year olds are pretty unregulated still. She just may not

have gotten a good night's rest.

Good luck!

Suzi

[Guest guest]

: I could be really off base with this suggestion- but, have you ever

had her hearing checked by an audiologist? If you have fluid in your ears

you can have the behavioral symptoms you described on her off days- being

clumsy, not paying real close attention to things... Does she have any

history of ear infections? An ENT can help diagnose this also. A young

child can have this type of fluctuating fluid in their ears affecting their

hearing and balance and they don't necessarily " feel " sick- there's no

fever, etc. Hope this helps. W. SLP

>

>Hello Everyone,

>

>I have a question for you about my daughter´s behavior. I have been

>keeping a careful record of my daughter a, 2.1, still undiagnosed,

>with language and motor delays, and have observed that she has " good " days

>and " bad " days. On good days ,she appears much more focused and

>responsive, reacts faster to instructions, and is much more verbal. On bad

>days, she has a dazed look, is a lot clumsier and less focused and

>sociable. I have not yet been able to establish a clear relation with food

>or her day´s activities. Does any one have a similar situation with their

>child so that you could clue me into what to look for? Could it be her

>routines, the amount of time spent with me (she is very attached), certain

>stress, food consumption? I would greatly appreciate your input.

>

>Thanks,

>

>

>

>

_________________________________________________________________

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[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Very interesting post about behavior being different on different days with no

connectable pattern. I don't know if you read my post recently in which I

suggested a new name for apraxia? How about: Unpredictable Inconsistency

Syndrome? ha ha Actually, this question has puzzled me and my husband for

years. We have seen this in our son Micah since he was a baby......some days

" on " and some days " off " . I have thought and thought about things it could be

connected to such as diet, sleep, illness, etc. So far I have not been able to

see any kind of pattern.....thus it seems to be to be unpredictable. I do not

know if it is part of apraxia, part of the sensory integration disorder or part

of the hypotonia or if it could be yet another thing in the brain that has yet

to be named. But it is clearly there and affects his whole being (whereas my

clumsiness and fog and word retrieval problems can be traced definitely to

pms!). I wish someone could explain a connection with something so we could at

LEAST predict the on days, even if we can't change whatever it is " connected "

to. I would be very interested to know if other people who have children dx

with global apraxia find this unpredictable inconsistency?

Thanks, Carol

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

These are some things that have made a noticeable difference in my

son's behavior resulting in " Good " days and " bad " days (Some as early as

infancy):

Not enough sleep-intrerrupted sleep

interupted meal schedule

my stress level (which I am sure effects his stress level)

time spent with him one on one without interuptions

t.v. viewing

[Guest guest]

Carol

Reading your email i get to wonder how much of the BRAIN we will never

understand. My son (5 1/2 yrs ) is an epileptic with Landau kleffner Syndrome

, a speech and language comprehension disorder that is extremely rare and as yet

untreatable , although various doctors and Paediatricians claim they

try.........

These kids lose all comprehension of " previously learnt " language and lose the

speech.

They live in a world where thay have to learn , ( the hard way ) that where once

they could communicate and understand things around them, they now live in this

world where they are isolated and can hear people talking , but no brain

connection is made - they know exactly what they want to say but again , no

connection in the brain can be made to express the words - Imagine the

frustration ?

On top of this there is INCREDABLE behaviour problems - which brings me to your

email .......

We have tried to look at : triggers " for his behaviour outbursts - the

psychologists tell you to look out for these " triggers " and then work around

them ......... What do they know when living with a child whose disability stems

from the complexity of the brain - there are no " triggers " , we believe it is

all to do with the sub- clinical activity of the brain which is beyond our

comprehension or control . The brain is such a powerfull medium and we will

probably never understand it completley , although we try every day to find

answers to our childrens problems .

Having poured out my self to you ( a left over from an extremely bad day with my

son - frustration and emptyness ) , I truely believe and am only just beginning

to completely understand is that we as parents have to not concentrate on what

our children can ACHIEVE but what HAPPINESS we are able to bring into their

lives to complete them as people.

I have looked for " clues and certain Triggers " but cannot find anything from

moods to food to sensory imput to anything environmental that seems to affect

his behaviour and cause this sub- clinical activity to occur - we only know that

it does happen and we have to ride it out and give him lots of love and

understanding whilst it is happening.

It has to be the hardest hurdle to get over as a parent , but somehow the

strength is there...............................

Imagine how hard it must be for our children???????

Nat

PS apologies for ranting , but its been a HARD day

------ Reply to Message ------

Hi ,

Very interesting post about behavior being different on different days with no

connectable pattern. I don't know if you read my post recently in which I

suggested a new name for apraxia? How about: Unpredictable Inconsistency

Syndrome? ha ha Actually, this question has puzzled me and my husband for

years. We have seen this in our son Micah since he was a baby......some days

" on " and some days " off " . I have thought and thought about things it could be

connected to such as diet, sleep, illness, etc. So far I have not been able to

see any kind of pattern.....thus it seems to be to be unpredictable. I do not

know if it is part of apraxia, part of the sensory integration disorder or part

of the hypotonia or if it could be yet another thing in the brain that has yet

to be named. But it is clearly there and affects his whole being (whereas my

clumsiness and fog and word retrieval problems can be traced definitely to

pms!). I wish someone could explain a connection with something so we could at

LEAST predict the on days, even if we can't change whatever it is " connected "

to. I would be very interested to know if other people who have children dx

with global apraxia find this unpredictable inconsistency?

Thanks, Carol

[Guest guest]

Hi Carol and Nat,

Even though this article was written with autistic children in mind, perhaps

even those of us who do not have autistic children can find some advise here.

One thing that is not mentioned in this article is the look at EFAs in positive

relationship to behavioral problems, but this may have been written before we

knew what we do now.-

[Guest guest]

:

I would like to agree 100% with and with the person who

suggested looking at food allergies. I have noticed 3 things that

frequently affect the behavior of the children that I see in therapy:

1. Middle ear fluid (even without an infection)

2. Allergies, but not just food allergies. I have noticed that many

of these children have allergies to pollens and other inhalant-type

allergens that significantly affect their behavior. For example, a

number of the children that I see in therapy began exhibiting

behavior problems the exact same week that the oak trees began

pollinating. (New Orleans may be the oak tree capital of the

universe.)

3. Undetected (at first) infections including sinus, ear, and tonsil

infections.

In the past several years, these 3 areas have become significant

concerns to me regarding their effects on the behavior of the

children that I see in therapy.

I hope this helps.

, CCC-SLP