2 year old with odd behavior

[sernadak]

My grandson is almost 2. He is a happy boy most of the time. He's funny and outgoing. But he has some odd quirks that are starting to worry us. First, his speech is very strange. He doesn't just speak baby-talk, he pronounces everything in his own way. It's almost like a foreign language. Also, he has an obsession with bare skin. If you are wearing clothes that leave anything bare, he will stroke, kiss and hug on a bare arm, knee or cheek. He kisses everything he gets his hands on (cell phones, stuffed animals, cups etc). He is afraid of inanimate objects, such as bikes, or a pile of twigs, or the woodstove (which has never been used since his birth).  He absolutely loses his mind when you try to take his shirt off. His pants and shoes are ok, but if you take off his shirt he screams and tries to keep it on. After it's off, say for a bath, he obsessively screams and points to it saying "shirt". His teeth enamel is eroding, he constantly has diarrhea and diaper rash on his bottom and down his thighs, he has allergies to a lot of different foods, and he is always thirsty. He has had a non-stop cold for at least a year. My daughter has moved twice thinking the apartments have something in them he's allergic to. Doctors just take blood samples, and then tell my daughter they can't find anything wrong. Except for IGA deficiency. He threw up all the time for the first year of his life and was diagnosed with GERD. I think that's it. I hope someone here has an idea or at least a suggestion as to where we should go now. Thank you and God bless.

[sernadak]

Hello. I know it's been years, but if you are still on here, I just wanted to thank you. I forgot I posted in this forum and just came across it in an email. My grandson turned out to have sensory processing disorder along with a bunch of allergies. He outgrew the funny speech, is now in school and doing great. He still has social issues and quirks with certain textures sounds and having his shirt taken off. Otherwise we have learned to cope with his behaviors. Thank you again for pointing us in the right direction. I hope your son is doing well!

[JimH68]

As I am not a Doctor, support is probably the best thing I have to offer here.  One more question, do you have a video camera?  Maybe document some of his emotional behavioral issues to show his new Pediatrician.  This will help demonstrate that your concerns are not imagined or an over reaction... and it may give the Dr. something to work with.  Best of luck.

[sernadak]

Thank you for your suggestions. He has had extensive allergy testing ( removing food from his diet and scratch tests) and we keep him away from those foods, but he seems to get diarrhea randomly anyway. The doctor doesn't seem to think anything is wrong emotionally, during the visits she just kind of passes over our concerns. My daughter told me today that she made an appointment with a different pediatrician so maybe we'll find some answers. The suggestions by "specialmom" sound helpful so we are going to try some of that also. Thank you all for your concerns. It's nice to know there are people in the world like the ones on forums where you can share concerns and get support if not help. God Bless!

[specialmom]

Hi,  If you live in the US, you qualify for birth to age 3 evaluations and services for things like speech issues. There are programs such as help me grow, headstart, etc. that will have liscensed professionals evaluate your child and help take next steps.  You can ask your pediatrician for a referral as well as a local children's hospital would have that information.  By law, if a family qualifies they must look into such issues with a child.  

My son has sensory integration disorder.  Please google this as it could be playing a role here.  The issues with clothing, touching everything and speech can all be sensory related.  This is evaluated by an occupational therapist and occupational therapy is the treatment.  However, there are MANY things you can do at home to make it so much better.  As far as his speech-----  talk to him all the time.  Say words very slowly and make eye contact when doing so.  Ask him to look at your mouth and how you say something.  Do some games like making silly faces and then freezing it.  This gets the muscles in the mouth and face working.  Do some tongue exercises.  Move the tongue from one side to another and eventually down and up (this will be hard for him).  stick the tongue in and then pull it back.  Blow cotton balls across the table with a cut in half straw, blow bubbles into a glass with a straw, drink thick liquids through a straw such as a smoothie or milkshake or even applesauce (is also very calming as is blowing bubbles), suck on a lollipop.

As far as his allergies, I don't know if your daughter has insurance or not, but there are pediatric allergists that test all the different substances to find out specifically what is causing it.  Has milk been ruled out?  Also what clothes washing soap she uses can cause rashes.  Friend of mine had to use ALL because it was the only soap that didn't cause a rash to break out on her daughter.

The things he is afraid of . . .has he had his eyesight checked?  Good luck.  I hope you find some things to help this little boy and make him more comfortable.

[JimH68]

If the Drs. have already found that food allergies are present, perhaps there are still more foods that he is eating that affect him.  Does he have an allergist?  Have the Doctors tried putting him on a very strict/limited diet, and then slowly over time re-introducing certain foods to see if there are any reactions.  Did the Doctors that advised of the food allergies diagnose this only in response to physical problems with him or were they also seeking resolution to emotional issues as well (are his Doctors aware of the obsessions and fears he is experiencing?) My apologies if any of the above was already thoroughly explored by his Pediatrician and/or Allergist. Best of luck.