Help with 9 year old with SAD please

Hi
My Daughter is 9, she has SAD aswell as SID (Sensory Integration Dysfunction – an Autistic Spectrum Disorder of which high Anxiety and OCD symptoms (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) are a part of). She has a Junior Bodyclock, this is her first full year of using it. Although she is doing SO much better we are really struggling at the moment. She is virtually impossible to wake up, she’s kinda like the duracell bunny, only she’s the one without the duracell batteries! This month is proving harder every day to get her to school. She just doesn’t seem to have ANY energy until about lunchtime. School don‘t really understand the full extent of what’s happening with her, they accept she attends when she can but I’d really like them to fully understand. I guess my question really is: is there ANYTHING else I can do to help her? She already has enough going on as it is and I just don’t like seeing her like this. Also do you find after a bout of illness that your SAD seems worse? Her other conditions certainly go into freefall after illness…just wondered if SAD can do the same.
Sorry for the long post…any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

Well I must be the lurka.....LOL

Ive had SAD since I was about that age, although then it didnt have a name.

My family were pleased that I slept till dinner time at the weekends, but gettin up in the mornings for school was hard. I suppose SAD and combined puberty changes make it ta terrible time.

As I said, I didnt know what it was and just accepted it as me - not even knowing anything was wrong. I just found it hard to keep friends, they didnt understand me. I found it hard to learn stuff during the winter, but come spring and exam time, I was fine.
I now know that i have a high IQ, unfortunately my SAD camoflaged this, so I was in classes that I could cope with in winter. However the same class in the spring.summer time was grossly easy, but because I hadnt kept up with the other class i couldnt change groups.

I used to feel frustrated sometimes.

My son also seems to be suffering from mild SAD. His teachers have noticed for a few years running that he doesnt cope to well with stress, and is brought to tears easily. He looks washed out, and gets frustrated easily. In a few weeks I know he will be fine.

Have a word with the teachers, and get him to move a a table near the window. Make sure he gets out at lunchtime. A good well balanced diet. Exercise to get rid of that excess energy ( I got through it at that age by doing cross-country running)is also brilliant at raising the feel good hormones in her brain.

Get some help from the doctor. Im sure I got a couple of sheets of info about children and SAD from SADA some years ago. I gave a copy of it to my sons teacher this year so that she could keep an eye on him. Ive still got it somewhere, but i dont suppose SADA would be overly impressed if I copied it. I'll dig it out and have a look to see if there is anything interesting in it.

A light box may well help if SAD is diagnosed. If you can get her to sit still long enough. Perhaps in front of a computer, not the best idea I know, but hey it might keep her attention for longer.

Hope this helps

Me x

Sounds like youve got your work cut out.


Best of luck flower

Me x

If you need to visit again Sharon, you may find it helpful. There's quite a good chance that there will be more people read your thread in the next couple of days.

Sorry...

Brains working slower than my fingers.. - I should be used to it shouldnt I lol

Me x

Sharon, is there no way you can try a light box for 20 minutes or half an hour in the morning? Why is there no time for it? The apparent consequences are that your daughter is missing school and has threatened in the past to kill herself. Surely it's an experiment that is worth a try. If the light doesn't seem to help, then that can be a clue you can use to guide you to look at other treatment options; please do come here and let us know.

Most companies that sell light boxes give you a month during which time you can send it back if it isn't working. You should know by a couple of weeks how much it is helping.

It sounds like your daughter's body is really struggling in some way. If you ever want to talk about approaches involving holistic health and healing, you are welcome to talk in the Nutrition Info thread. Can I just ask if you've looked into food allergies?

Best wishes,
Linda.

I'm sorry to hear that you are in so much difficulty with your daughter. It must be frustrating and exhausting. I know a Yahoo list that supports parents who have chosen to chelate their children in an effort to remove mercury, which some believe is linked to autism. Common sources are vaccines, amalgams (present in the mother during pregnancy, if not in the child) and contaminated fish. If you are interested I can give you the URL.

best wishes,
Linda.

Hi everyone
Thought it easier to add to my previous Thread rather than start a new one! A kind of an update if you like as well as to ask another question.
As soon as the weather changed around Springtime, my Daughter literally sprang back into action. Her lethargy and lack of appetite and general ‘wakefulness’ are definitely connected to the SAD rather than her ASD, we have noticed than since the clocks changed recently she has reverted back to that pattern.
She has missed several days of school literally because she hadn’t even got the energy to get out of the house! I am in talks with her school to see what they can come up with, I’ve done my bit, I’ve tried EVERYTHING I can think of (well nearly…).
She currently has a Junior Bodyclock, if I bought her a Lightbox, can anyone tell me if it has helped with the lethargy, if so, to what degree? A lady at Lumie suggested if we got one to use it as soon as she wakes?
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Sharon

Hi Briana,
In answer to your question on whether or not we feel worse with SAD after being ill and the answer is yes. I was sick a couple of weeks ago and like a dummie I had my blinds closed so when I got out of bed a couple of days later, I then had to get over SAD again, so I got my light therapy box out and boom it vanished - thank God! I know now that the next time I am sick I either have to have the blinds open for the sun or have my light therapy box in my room with me. I hope this helps you.

Brianas mum

Best of luck flower - to both of you..

Me x

Maybe if she''s only attending school in the afternoon, she could sit with her lightbox in the morning.

Hi Thrive Feel ALIVE,
You are absolutely right and by the way I love your positive attitude - KUDOS to you!!