BIG CRY FOR SHOULDERS TO LEAN ON | Autism PDD

Hi Jan.  Somtimes the plate seems much too small for the meal we are served.

I have nothing to offer, but thougts and prayers..  You and your family will be in mine tonight.

Peace.

My eldest daughter suffered from conversion disorder several years ago in the 5th grade, to the tune of attempted self-mutilation, then hospitalization for a week in isolation due to an outbreak of shingles that covered over 1/2 her body, returning home only to have 30 seizures in one day within 24 hours, followed by ambulance transportation back to the hospital and CATs, MRIs, spinal tap, and then a sleep study, which is what verified there was no physical cause and that is was psychiatrically-based...and then a stay on the children's psychiatric unit for a period of time.

All this ultimately due to the fact that she was severely dyslexic and the school staff refused to acknowledge there was a problem because of her high grades, and she'd finally hit the wall and couldn't maintain them any longer.  It was her psychiatric team that determined it!  They also told me at the time that, even though conversion disorder is primarily seen in aged persons (particularly women) who are alone, it is beginning to be seen more frequently in children under 12 (as well as an increase in self-mutilation) because of the amount of increasing demands and stress at school, not just from the teachers but from the students in general, such as the teasing incident you mention as well as other bullying that goes on.

Ultimately, because the district decided she no longer needed the dyslexia supports upon entry into high school ("She's pulled herself up out of Spec Ed system - aren't you proud?!?  HELLO!"), I did remove her from the system and have homeschooled her and her younger sister the past 3 years.   On her own with the proper supports, she's continued to excell and now does part upper-level high school and part college-level work, as well as being employed full time as a nanny for a 2-year old child.

On a positive note, once dealt with by putting new coping strategies in place for dealing with emotions, fears, etc., its extremely rare that conversion disorder ever surfaces again.  We have had far more stress in our lives over the past few years than ever before, but with the exception of a small minor shingles outbreak she's going through now because of our impending cross-country move, my now-teenage daughter has handled it all beautifully.

Kudos to you for responding to your son so quickly, and getting him the help he needs to help him vent his fears and find ways to cope that work for him!  He's blessed to have such a responsive parent Thank you all for being so kind. I talked to the school counselor. I could hardly get into her office for trying not to just bawl. A couple of other staff members saw me come into the building, and knowing that I am usually little Miss Mary Sunshine, knew instantly that something big was up, even with out the tears. So they quickly closed both the doors and left us to talk. Ms. Calhoun was just great in talking me through it. She was at ta high school before coming to Metcalfe and knew alot about this issue. She was very encouraging and insightful. She did comment that Benjamin may be able to conceptualize self-mutilation because of his waaaay-out-there mind. She has worked with him in small groups before. I did take him to clinic this afternoon. The therapist is convinced that Ben is okay. Ben will simply need to be reminded that hurting oneself is not an option. Bruce (therapist) affirmed me as Ben's Mom and got Ben to know that I was scared by his behavior. I don't know if he understands emotionally, but he does know the fact. Thank you all for being here. The counselor did tell me that Nickelodeon or one of the kid's networks has a time they call "The End" for teens that has themes like mutilation and suicide in them. eeewwwww I didn't know that. She said that some of the 'music' videos display the same type of fare. gross. This is why I don't have more than the basic networks and we really only watch PBS on occasion. My parents have lots of channels. I have trouble staying on top of things over there.I will say a prayer for you - for wisdom and for peace.Benjamin has developed conversion disorder. This is where the patient develops symptoms that look numerological, but have no physical/medical science basis. I am not quite describing this right. Ben has had x-rays. MRI, CT scans. but no organic cause can be found for these symptoms. The literature says that this is where the patient 'converts' their psychological distress to physical. The patient typically tends to stuff emotionally. Then today, Ben couldn't g out to play football with the other boys. Running at recess seem to make his limp worse, so I said no football. At recess, two boys teased and made fun of him. I discovered that it has happened repeatedly. THEN tonight I saw that my precious 9-year-old had drawn red places on his wrists to pretend that he had 'accidentally hurt' himself. I am so amazed at how calm I was the whole time that we were talking about it and I was washing it off. I asked him where he got that idea from. He said that he didn't know, he just thought of it.
Dear God! My precious little boy! How does this happen?!?!? I want to take him out of school and home-school him. We have lots of solid Christian friends that home-school their kids, so a wholesome social network would be a snap.
Dear Holy Father!
I plan to be at the door of our clinic in the morning. It is a psychiatric clinic with all sorts of wonderful practicianors there.
Help me GodIt sounds like you have strong beliefs Jan which will hopefully help you get through this.
I think the psych is a great idea. Maybe homeschooling would be better for you DS - do what you need to do.I've been there. My brother converted his anxiety into physical and vocal tics. He also had P.A.N.D.A.S. where strep antibodies build up and cause the original tics (his were like triple the normal antibodies). It was tough to watch him twitch himself to the ground or repeat things. But we got through it. If you're going to the clinic you're clearly doing right by your son! This is just a part of who he is at the moment. it's not fun, and it's stressful but you'll get through it! My brother is 15 now and twitch free, one of the sweetest smartest kids. He's NT (sort of) but I thought that hearing about another conversion disorder might help! Keep an eye on that writing on his wrists thing, good for you for being so strong, that must have been really scary! You're on top of this and your boy is SO LUCKY to have you! This clinic should be a big help. Maybe homeschooling isn't such a bad thing, as long as it doensn't make him feel more isolated. Keep us posted and you can pm me if you want more details on my experience. You guys will be ok!!!!!! Your faith is going to be a great help! 

I will pray for you also. You say there is a network. Some parents have homeschooled together for socializing and at least some places will allow partial home and partially at school. Like PE or art and music.

I had an MRI and CAT scan for MVA yesterday and a cup of tea is NOT!

i am so grateful for the prayers and loving thoughts. The visit to the psych went well. I also cried to the guidance counselor. We re both doing so much better now. It has been an interesting week, even for us! Ben still has conversion disorder, and is refusing to do any movement that I ask of him. The weather is simply gorgeous in Florida right now. Hopefully, we will do better this week. He has to keep some exercise going on. I want him to ride his bike. Kathy, our practitioner says this is not a favorite thing for kids like Ben. She says tha he is very cerebral. Well, so am I. We both need to keep moving our bodies. thanks again for all of your love. I can't check in everyday, school. But I try to get here at once each week.
toodles
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