impaired development

[Al_Farabi]

Our 2yr 10 mon old son has not developed any speech. He doesn’t understand any instruction. He doesn’t respond to his name most of the times. He can express very limited needs nonverbally (take someone by hand and show water or cookies). He doesn’t understand pointing at things. He throws violent tantrums and bangs his head without any apparent reason. He spends most of his time running around or climbing when he has a good mood. He doesn’t have any interest in nutritious food. He has poor eye contact. We don’t have any development pediatrician in Bangladesh. We are in desperate need of help and guidance.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

It is not unusual for children along the Pervasive Developmental Disorder spectrum to be treated with minerals (e.g., zinc, calcium) of Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine). Some attest to the fact that the children's behavior improves, though improvement would not be expected right away. Interestingly, inadequate amount of folic acid in the pregnant mother is though by some to be a contibuting factor to conditions along the PDD spectrum. Piracetam is used to treat myoclonus, or sudden involuntary muscle jerks. I really do not know why the doctor might have recommended Montelukast - does your son have any asthma-like condition?

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

There are signs that your son displays a disorder along the Pervasive Developmental Disorder spectrum. The only way to be sure is for him to undergo an evaluation. I understand the resources may not be available to you. But there is no alternative. What sort of medical resources do you have access to?

[Al_Farabi]

This is the problem we are facing. We can't trust any of the doctors here completely. No our son doesn't have any asthma-like condition. But he has a running nose almost every month. However we have decided not to give him any of those two medicines. He doesn't have any involuntary muscle jerks either. The comment on the EEG goes like this...
This record in the awake state shows no definite abnormlity. Activities are within normal limit for age and state of the child. No epilepty form discharge is seen during any time of the recording.
We are trying to get Super Nuthera. It is not available here. Can you give us some advice on how we could help him deal with his tantrums, aggressive self injurious behaviours? He feels pain after he bangs his head. It is evident from his facial expression. But he is unable to control himself. And his extreme hyperactive behaviour is stopping him from learning anything useful. We could teach him to drink from a glass on his own. He is quite receptive. But his short attention span gets in his way. Please give us some advice on how to make him comfortable when he is suffering. And he is extremely poor on his food intake. Please help us with that too. Thx a lot for your valuable time.

[Al_Farabi]

We have taken our child to a Neorologist suggested by one of the Autism schools. He has prescribed numerous vitamins to Maheer, our son. Zinc 5ml once, a multimineral-multivitamin 5ml once, Calcium Carbonate BP 625mg once, Pyridoxine HCI BP 25 mg 3 times, Folic Acid BP 5mg once, Montelukast 4 mg once daily.Along with it he has given a medicine, Piracetam BP one third tea spoon twice daily. Maheer is always running around on his toes, he has a very small attention span. And these days he is banging his head more than before. we have given him the medication for 6 days but haven't seen any positive change. His behaviour is getting more complicated everyday. Please comment about the medication. He also told us to do one EEG and we did. He has very irregular sleeping pattern. He is very uncomfortable. Please give us some advice.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

I wish I could offer you some reassurance, but there is no substitute for a thorough evaluation. Perhaps it would be wise to consult with someone at one of the schools you mention - you might find a resource there.

[Al_Farabi]

Basically there is no development pediatrician in my country. Different doctors are giving different theories about his condition. There are some schools for autistic children run by parents who have such children themselves. The medical evaluation can go as far as labeling the child as autistic. A child doesn't even start getting help before he or she turns 3. We are not that affluent that we can take our child abroad for evaluation. Sometimes he bangs his head on the ground so hard that it really makes us feel helpless. I wish we could give him some medication to ease his pain. we know whatever trouble we are in, he is in a much bigger one. So any information is a great help for us. thank you for your time.