Hi, this is my first post. My 4 1/2 year old daughter was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder when she was 2, and has been in OT for over 2 years. Before her diagnosis, I noticed that she began pulling her hair and sucking on her lower lip out of the blue one day, while recovering from a severe stomach virus. She has never been diagnosed with step, although her older brother has had strep at least 5 times in the last 4 years and her father and I both had strep two summers ago, after we were exposed to a child at her summer camp.
Although she's made a lot of progress with her OT, lately progress has stopped and she's regressed. After stopping the hair pulling almost completely from May 2011-December 2011 while on NAC, while her brother was recovering from strep she suddenly began pulling obsessively. She also started exhibiting extreme anxiety, hand flapping, emotional outbursts. In one week she pulled out almost 80% of her hair.
Since then, she hasn't stopped the pulling. After she had croup about 8 weeks ago, she began losing some of the gains she'd made in OT--she won't sit in a swing, she's anxious and convinced no one likes her. She worries about cars hitting her when we cross the street, even though they are 1/2 mile away. She flaps her hands and walks aimlessly in circles at times. I've spoken to her OT, and their suggestion is to keep ramping up the sensory diet and trying a therapeutic listening program.
I have an appointment to talk to her pediatrician on Monday. I'd like to explore the possibility of PANS. How should I present this? My fear is that because she has a diagnosis of SPD no one will listen to my concerns. We live in the Denver metro area.
