so confused

[Sandra322]

I have a 3 year old little girl. I started noticing things with her at about 6 months of age she was throwing her self back and hitting her head on the floor, i asked the parents as teacher lady that came to my house about this and she really didnt think it was abig deal, well my daughter has always cried alot and over everything and anything you could possibley think of. At age one i can remember not knowing what to get her for her birthday cause she was not interested in anything she would rather be by herself than play with her sister. Any ways over the year things have gotten alot worse for us she began hitting her head on the wall and act like it does not bother her but if her sock is not perfect she will scream and cry that is hurts.she has became very aggressive hitting me her sister my boyfriend kids at daycare our dog and so on and so.. she use to talk very well for her age but within this year i have noticed that its getting harder and harder for me and alot of people that are around on alot to understand her. I have taken her to a dr. they first put her on zoloft once a day .25mg well the first week was wonderful she was actually sleeping the whole night it was not taking her 3 hrs to fall a sleep her speech was clear no hitting no hour long fits of screaming and digging at herself until she bleeds she didnt care how her socks were wk 2 was worse than before. They said she has anxity ocd and mildly autistic but they also said perrivasive developmental disorder i am not for for sure what all this means is she going to have to take meds for the rest of her liofe and what is the difference between mildly autistic snd perrivasive developmental disorder and they thing she has mood swingsi think thats alot for a three year old to have.

[specialmom]

Quick note too,  sensory integration is usually diagnosed by an occupation therapist.  Your daughter definately seems to have some "tactile defensiveness" which means that certain things relating to touch bother her greatly.  Socks are very uncomfortable because the seam is rubbing or the fabric feels bad and the only way a 3 year old can express it is to cry.   My son has sensory and he won't wear socks at home-----  only out with his shoes on.  And the flip side is that your daughter has low sensativity to pain which is also very sensory.  The full message of pain isn't sent.  It is interesting that a kid with sensory can have both of these going on at the same time-----  oversensativity and unersensativity but such is the nature of sensory integration disorder.  Sensory can be present along with autism or by itself.  As I said, my son has sensory and it is handled through occupational therapy and lots of things we do at home.  He's doing well in all areas and some of the tactile issues have gone away completely.  

Something else to consider is if you live in the states, look into your public school's early intervention program.  It is for age 3 through 5 and is provide by law to children who qualify.  You call the school district office and request an evaluation.   I would say at this point you would need an occupational eval, speech eval, and psychological eval.  Do all 3 so that you get the full picture.  If your daughter qualifies, she then attends a preschool program that would have professionals providing some services to her for free.  We did not go this route and did private therapy but friends in the program feel it was worth it.  Early intervention is so important.  As I said, we started with my son at 4 and now at almost 6 he is doing really really well.  

SSRI's in general have warning for use in children.  Part of the problem is that it is nearly impossible to do any studies with children because most parents aren't willing to let their child be the guinea pig  So they have no child indication-----  but they were used anyway.  There were problems with some and the FDA then required a warning.  I think when needed, you do what you have to do.  But you must be careful with medication in young children.  My full grown brother in law takes 50 mg of Zoloft a day.  Now that is a low dose but 100 is typical.  Your daughter is what----  35 pounds?  So please work closely with your doctor.  Good luck----  it is tough figuring it all out.  Enjoy the journey.

[aikidokan]

Hi Sandra -

I work with children who have many of the same issues as your daughter, everyday. If she does indeed have autism or PDD, you need to learn more about these to provide the best care for her.

Find a credible website, such as the american counseling association's site, to read about these disorders.

Sensory issues will be a huge need for her if she has autism or PDD.

This means that she might have a hard time processing all of the information that is constantly bombarding us - the sounds coming from various appliances in your home, people talking to her, sights, smells, tastes...

If she can't organize those sense, or tune others out, it's chaos. Hitting her head or being aggressive may be her cries for help that she's overwhelmed, or it could be self injurious behavior.

A lot of the parents who bring their children to the hospital I work at, have put their child on many different medications. It may have started with just zoloft, as your daughter has. But then the Dr adds another one to control "other" symptoms, and then another, and another - yet it never really seems to get their behavior under control.

The medications, especially for a 3 year old, are a mask. They can help, but to truly help, you have to address the underlying issues that are causing your daughter to be dysregulated.

Seek the professional help of a psychologist who is familiar with the autism or PDD population.