It started when Jessica was learning to speak at about 3 years old. She would complain that she was "itchy" when she was stressed or had a sensory overload.
It slowly moved into other things such as "My hip hurts." "My legs are wobbly." "I have a fever." "I have the strep (strep throat)". "My stomach hurts." "My back hurts."
WELL.......after 4 months or so of Jessica complaining about her back, I noticed that she wasn't always complaining of back pain when things were getting out of control for her. I decided to take her to the pediatrician, and she suggested that we take Jessica to a back specialist to get some xrays.
Fast forward to a week ago: Jessica has spondylolothis
It is a common stress fracture for growing kids. Apparently Jessica had all the symptoms: back pain, tight hamstrings, and a forward leaning posture.
She now has to wear a back brace, that looks super uncomfortable. Although she LOVES the tight t-shirt she has to wear under the brace. Upside!
It's official. I am the worst mother in the world. My kid has a stress fracture, and I didn't do anything about it for a while. I really dislike Autism. Because if not for Autism, I would have take her to the doctor right away.
I do feel a little better about being the worst mother in the world because her teachers admitted to being the worst teachers in the world because they overlooked her complaints as well.
How do you decide when a complaint from a child on the spectrum is real, and when it is just a coping mechanism??
I do not think you did anything horrible, Shane has phantom pains all the time and in the beginning I would make him an appointment. It is not easy to determine what is real and what is coping. For me I ignore the pleas for a bit and if he stops they are not real. He has only been diagnosed since October for Asperger's before then we were always at the doctor, his pediatrician was the one who determined there was something else going on the teachers just thought he was a spoiled brat and told me he would grow out of all of this.... I am here if you need to talk, this is all new to me but I am a good listenenr
ReplyDeleteHi Darcy,
ReplyDeleteI am just now coming across the story of Jessica, I am wondering how she is today? I have Spondylolisthesis and was thought to have this when I was born. I am an Administrator on a Spondylolisthesis group, we also have a group that is for young people that are going through similar situations as Jessica, and moms as well that you can chat with…if you are interested in joining feel free to contact me on Facebook…my name is Dena Wagel -Kentucky