Let me just get this out of the way: this post is about autism spectrum disorders in children, one of which happens to be known as PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections). I appreciate that sounds less entertaining than jokes about autistic pandas or ‘eats, shoots and leaves’ gags, so I apologise for that in advance.
This is a long shot I know, however desperate times cause for desperate measures, and NSC is yet to let me down. Here goes.
My sister’s little girl is 9 years old, and in many ways just a lovely, normal little girl - my two nippers play beautifully with her. But for a while now she has had one or two weird obsessions, in particular sensory issues with fabric touching her skin. Certain garments, particularly socks, are more troublesome than others.
This has been problematic and somewhat inconvenient for some time - she is regularly late to school because of issues getting dressed in the morning despite the very best efforts of my sister and her husband. They’ve seen various therapists and psychologists over the past couple of years with limited success.
In the last couple of weeks however things have escalated. She is now completely unable to bear any clothes whatsoever, and can no longer even tolerate a duvet or bed linen and so she has quite literally spent the last two weeks wearing absolutely nothing and therefore unable to leave the house or go to school. As you can imagine, no one in that house is getting much sleep at the minute.
The most likely diagnoses that have been thrown their way is a rare form of autism, or another rare syndrome called PANDAS which causes odd behaviour such as tics and extreme OCD in children following a streptococcal infection. On the latter front, she has been admitted to hospital on two occasions for a mystery illnesses that were never fully identified. In theory, PANDAS can be diagnosed via a blood test however another obsession of my niece’s is an extreme fear of needles, which complicates things further.
They’ve tried several specialists across the country to no avail - most seem not to want to get involved because of the complexities surrounding her case and symptoms.
And so hence I’m reaching out to the oracle of experience that is NSC. Her family’s lives have almost come to a complete standstill because of this, and it seems like there is no end in sight. They are at their wits end. Does anyone have any experience of diagnosing rare manifestations of autism or the aforementioned PANDAS? If so, can anyone recommend a specialist who might be able to help? Anywhere in the country, it doesn’t matter. Private is fine too, probably preferable given the urgency.
To anyone who might think this sounds like a trivial issue being taken advantage of by a child being indulged by her parents, that was my initial take a year or two ago. But believe me, having witnessed the complete melt downs which prevail it is well beyond that and something that has both the shrinks and therapists baffled as much as anyone.
As I say, a long shot I know, but I know what a great place this can be when help is needed. Thanks!
This is a long shot I know, however desperate times cause for desperate measures, and NSC is yet to let me down. Here goes.
My sister’s little girl is 9 years old, and in many ways just a lovely, normal little girl - my two nippers play beautifully with her. But for a while now she has had one or two weird obsessions, in particular sensory issues with fabric touching her skin. Certain garments, particularly socks, are more troublesome than others.
This has been problematic and somewhat inconvenient for some time - she is regularly late to school because of issues getting dressed in the morning despite the very best efforts of my sister and her husband. They’ve seen various therapists and psychologists over the past couple of years with limited success.
In the last couple of weeks however things have escalated. She is now completely unable to bear any clothes whatsoever, and can no longer even tolerate a duvet or bed linen and so she has quite literally spent the last two weeks wearing absolutely nothing and therefore unable to leave the house or go to school. As you can imagine, no one in that house is getting much sleep at the minute.
The most likely diagnoses that have been thrown their way is a rare form of autism, or another rare syndrome called PANDAS which causes odd behaviour such as tics and extreme OCD in children following a streptococcal infection. On the latter front, she has been admitted to hospital on two occasions for a mystery illnesses that were never fully identified. In theory, PANDAS can be diagnosed via a blood test however another obsession of my niece’s is an extreme fear of needles, which complicates things further.
They’ve tried several specialists across the country to no avail - most seem not to want to get involved because of the complexities surrounding her case and symptoms.
And so hence I’m reaching out to the oracle of experience that is NSC. Her family’s lives have almost come to a complete standstill because of this, and it seems like there is no end in sight. They are at their wits end. Does anyone have any experience of diagnosing rare manifestations of autism or the aforementioned PANDAS? If so, can anyone recommend a specialist who might be able to help? Anywhere in the country, it doesn’t matter. Private is fine too, probably preferable given the urgency.
To anyone who might think this sounds like a trivial issue being taken advantage of by a child being indulged by her parents, that was my initial take a year or two ago. But believe me, having witnessed the complete melt downs which prevail it is well beyond that and something that has both the shrinks and therapists baffled as much as anyone.
As I say, a long shot I know, but I know what a great place this can be when help is needed. Thanks!
