Reply to 18 y.o. DD's mysterious brain ailment, advice please

Forum Index » Kids With Special Needs and Disabilities

Reply to "18 y.o. DD's mysterious brain ailment, advice please "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP what does your daughter say about why she stopped doing activities that she was previously involved with? Does she agree with you that this illness caused some kind of change in her? You have not mentioned her point of view in your previous posts and given that she is nearly an adult, it seems very relevant whether she perceives herself as ill, or just growing up and changing. [/quote]

Excellent question.

DD knows she's fallen apart academically, and she's accepted that something has happened to her physically. At first she was in deep denial, but when she started getting F's, she realized that something was wrong and started accepting help.

As far as dropping her activities, [b]I think she's in denial that her brain illness has caused her to quit everything. She says she's not interested in the things that used to interest her. [/b]She still has a lot of friends and likes to socialize with them. And she's cheerful and funny. She used to care intensely about her grades, but now she's OK with Bs because that's the best she can do.

I think her brain can't handle more than school and socializing. She takes fitness classes occasionally when a friend suggests it, but she has no initiative. I'm torn between wondering if she's still in denial or if part of what's wrong with her brain is that she can't see herself very clearly. [/quote]

If you can't afford a neuropsych on your own, you might try to request an IEP and see if the school will provide any assessment.  All schools have what is called a "child find" obligation.  That means that they are obliged to find, assess and accommodate all children with disabilities.  A child who suffers an illness and whose performance in school then drops might be exhibiting a medically-based disability.

It's also quite common for bright kids to be able to mask some kind of learning disability or attention problem but then fall apart in HS, when the workload and organizational expectations increase dramatically.  It could be that the illness and the drop in academics are correlated but not causative.

The problem is, in 10th or 11th grade, you probably could have successfully convinced the school that they had a duty to assess.  If your child is literally about to graduate, then the school can just drag it's feet, because once graduated, they have no further responsibility. [/quote]

She had an illness and then had long lasting symptoms . She doesn't need a 5 k neuropsych.[/quote]

A neuropsych is $4K and will more likely be covered at KKI or Chidren's especially if the kid is presenting with physical, mental health issues.

These "symptoms" have lasted two years.  It coincided with a viral infection, but the OP has done dozens of medical tests with nothing to show for it. The change in behavior may have nothing to do with her kid getting sick.  OP's kid may not need a neuropsych but she should have a mental health screening by a psychiatrist.  A lot of mental illnesses have their onset in puberty.   She may need anti-depressants.

It's weird for the OP to say that she couldn't afford a neuropsych when she could afford all these others specialists.  It's disconcerting that she thinks that [i]her daughter[/i] is in the one in denial about a "brain illness."

OP, I'm not trying to discount your impressions/instincts as a mother.  There may be something undetermined and medical in nature going on, however, if whatever IT is, it's had a considerable impact academically on your kid.  That's why a neuropsych may be valuable information.

Lastly, I would have her tested for celiac disease (an autoimmune disease).  It shows up very differently and can trigger at any time when someone is under stress.  The illness may have triggered it if your DD has the gene.  It can cause fatigue and brain fog.  If your DD eats wheat, she needs to keep eating it so that the blood test is accurate.  
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics