[blindkid] SUGGESTIONS FOR: fear/anxiety-Lisa

marcia fanduiz-headley madofaro at hotmail.com
Sat Jan 10 06:28:22 UTC 2009


Hi, Lisa. I would suggest that you speak to her pediatrician regarding a referral for therapy. My line of work is alongside mental health therapists that treat children ages 4 through 18. If what you have tried so far is not working and her panic attacks have increased in frequency (an maybe in intensity), it is time to try something different. What the therapists will do is assess her and then figure out exercises, coping skills to teach her and you to help her decrease them. If that does not work alone, maybe medication will help along with therapy.
 
It is important to intervene early so that she can learn skills to self regulate when she is triggered by things in her environment. I don't know if your daughter is developing as a typical 6yr old or she might have some delays (or probably, her reactions are due to sensory processing issues). If it is sensory issues, then occupational therapy would be a good idea to explore.
 
I  have a 7  yr old daughter, blind and with developmental delays who has serious sensory issues. She's gotten better with OT and lots of hard work. She would start gagging just by me asking her if she wanted milk. Milk was her only source of nutrients from birth till age 4 1/2 yrs when she had bad pneumonia. She stopped drinking and did not have anything by mouth for 11 days. After lots of IVs and her getting better, we had to introduce milk, yogurt and apple sauce. She never drank milk again until this day (by itself). She did opened up to yogurt and did yogurt and puddin (some kind of meal meant for children with difficulties eating and swallowing). This is all thanks to sensory issues. It is the way she perceives and processes the information through her senses. To her, till this date, milk makes her sick (although she eats thickened milk mixed with Nestle Breakfast and oatmeal). This long example was just to give you an idea how horrible must be for your daughter the touch of certain textures. I am going to provide you with a couple of websites that have checklists for you to see if your daughter fits under the different categories. If she does, I would try and get her assessed for OT.
 
This website is useful although the providers are located in the bay area, CA. This one has checklists for you:
 
http://www.spdbayarea.org/sensory_processing_disorder_checklist.htm
 
You may be able to find providers in your area. 
 
http://www.spdfoundation.net/aboutspd.html
 
Either sensory or mental related, this DOES NOT TAKE AWAY that your child is smart as other kids, or even a genius. It is just that this is something that is turning into behaviors that can affect her in different areas (school, relationships, social, not to mention emotionally). I hope this helps. You are not alone in this. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Marcia Fanduiz-HeadleyLa Dominicana en California809-202-1526> To: blindkid at nfbnet.org> Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2009 20:39:58 -0500> From: kbugsmum at aol.com> Subject: [blindkid] Help with fear/anxiety> > My daughter is 6 years old and has always had anxiety episodes, which were up until now, fairly unfrequent -?maybe a few times a year. They've been getting more and more frequent and we just don't know what to do. She hears something or feels something underfoot and her imagination is so rich her explanations are always?frightening and seem?so out there to me but to her they seem very real. She just cannot move and begins screaming. Its just awful. I'm thinking its a least partially related to stress. She's getting older and school is getting more difficult and with two younger siblings I know she isn't getting as much wind down one on one time as she remembers so well. I've been trying to stay patient but I'm afraid I'm not doing too well at that.> Any ideas?? Thanks so much.> > Lisa> > > > > _______________________________________________> blindkid mailing list> blindkid at nfbnet.org> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for blindkid:> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/madofaro%40hotmail.com
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