This may sound like a whine, and perhaps it is. But I’m just curious to know if I’m the only one having these issues.
I have 3 children. All three have fairly significant speech delays. All three are in speech therapy. My oldest has been diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder and has been evaluated for ADHD (inconclusive results). My middle child, whom I posted about in another thread) is currently undergoing testing for an LD as well as possible neurological problems. My youngest, although speech delayed, seems to be very advanced for his age and I’m holding out hope that he will not experience anything more than the speech delay.
Is it common for all three children to have these types of issues? Some days I think that it must be something that I did/did not do during pregnancy. It’s very frustrating because I hate watching my kids struggle and not be able to do a lot for them.
Nancy3
Chances are it’s genetic. LDs tend to run in families, which indicates a genetic component.
Nancy
Re: Is it genetic or something I'm doing wrong?
[color=darkred]BabyU, I don’t have answers for you i’m sorry. I’m a wondering parent like you. I just wanted to give you support and tell you you are not alone in the way you feel. Every day I ask my self is it something I did? I’m sure, no I know, you do everything in your power to do the best for your children, and that is all you can do.
Best of luck.[/color]
Re: Is it genetic or something I'm doing wrong?
Don’t beat yourself up on this. I don’t think there is anyway to know for sure. If you didn’t drink or smoke or take medications/drugs during pregnancy, then there isn’t much to change the next time around, if there is a next time. Even if you did then I don’t think there is anything that you can do but go on. It is most likely to be genetic anyway. There might also be some environmental hazards over which you had no control.
—des
Re: Is it genetic or something I'm doing wrong?
My mom had 3 kids all with ADHD and LDs.
My mom had 5 g’kids….4 with significant ADHD and LDs.
I have 4 g’kids ages 1 to 7….. two have significant LDs and ADHD. All of them are tested at age 3.
My vote is for genetics. We also try not to make things worse by limiting the number of chemicals in our lives both in our food and in our daily lives.
peace,
marge
http://www.net-haven.net
Re: Is it genetic or something I'm doing wrong?
I am thinking too, what I did wrong… Now I know, I did not remove my amalgam fillings before getting pregnant and breastfed both kids for 2 years… I thought I do them lots of good… Vaccinations with thimerosal did not help either.
So if I wanted to have another baby, I would remove my amalgam fillings, breastfeed for 6 months max, would not vaccinate, and would never eat fish while pregnant and nursing. I don’t think I will have another baby though - too many problems with my kids, especially the younger one.
Re: Is it genetic or something I'm doing wrong?
Gemini,
Millions of mothers with fillings have breastfed babies without ill effect, so I don’t think you can necessarily blame it on that. And millions of children have been vaccinated with thimerosal and all do not have negative effects. These are just theories which may or may not be accurate. I think time will tell as the vaccines are now mostly thimerosal free and kids are given composite fillings. It would be great if the cause of learning and mental problems could be traced to specific things, but I think it will be hard to pin down. I feel like there is definitely a genetic component in many cases. And it may be a combination of several things that trigger the problems in certain children.
Bottom line, I don’t see that a mother needs to be looking to blame herself for a child’s developmental problems when she followed the standard doctor’s advice during pregnancy.
Janis
Re: Is it genetic or something I'm doing wrong?
I’m with Janis on this. I’m not a parent, so I prob. can’t really understand, but I hate to read someone who is so filled with blame on this. I just think we don’t know that much of what causes this kind of thing. Reading problems particularly are very heritable, and there are strong abilities (right hemisphere?) going with it. I think the studies are that reading is not a biological activity, something like a bunch of brain functions working together. I think the same could be said for math, written language, hand writing, etc. The only thing that has a more biological basis is language problems. And even then there is so much we don’t know about causation. I think you can only do what you can now, and not waste a lot of valuable energy worrying about to what extent you caused it. I understand even people who work with fetal alcohol syndrome, where the parent (if it is the parent and not an adopted child) never waste time on blaming the parent.
—des
Re: Is it genetic or something I'm doing wrong?
My son has been diagnosed with ADHD. My brother had it (undiagnosed). All three of his kids were hyper, but I think only one was actually diagnosed and medicated. One of my brother’s grandchildren has been medicated for ADHD. My daughter can be active, but she’s pretty laid back, and I don’t think at this point she has it.
I’ve played the blame game, but you know what? I’m doing all I can. I just pray, try to keep strong, talk it out with some caring people and keep it moving. It’s not easy, but he’s a beautiful child with wonderful qualities, so I try to keep that at the forefront of my thoughts.
If it was something you did during pregnancy, which there’d be no way of knowing, it’s too late now. You only have the present and the future to work with.
It *is* worth thinking about diet and exposure to assorted toxic things in the air and water - as far as now and the future goes.