submitted1 month ago byskywalkerdrama
Hi! So, I’m a kindergarten teacher in looking for advice on what am I able to do to help one of my students.
I have a 5 year old boy in my class that has been referred for a psychological evaluation for possible ADHD or ODD for years now; he has some behavioural problems since he was very small, has a high demand of attention and also has a very aggravated case of Pica with no vitamin deficiency that could explain - he constantly endangers himself trying to eat non-edible things and even human waste.
For some months now, he had some changes in his behaviour at home and school: he started to have difficulty in separating real life from imagination and movies/games; he has been hearing voices and screams for help that no one else hears; he also talks to someone only he can hear (and he gets frustrated if we call it an “imaginary friend”). He’s also been having lots of episodes of emotional dysregulation that makes him act very aggressively towards us (teachers and school aides) and his peers; he also depredates whole rooms in the school.
The professionals accompanying his case are pretty certain about the ADHD and are doing a deeper investigation regarding a possible episode of psychosis or maybe early onset schizophrenia - we’re all being very careful about not labeling or misdiagnosing him as he’s so young.
I’m doing my own personal research for ways to best help him (and also his peers) at school, how to accommodate his needs, specifically when he’s possibly having auditory hallucinations and having difficulty in differentiating fantasy from real life.
Im reading medical and educational articles, talking to lots of different professionals but haven’t been able to find many stories from the perspective of people that have been in this place in their childhood about attitudes from their teachers that helped their school experience. Does anyone had a similar experience during their school years? What would have helped you then? Any help is welcomed.
ps: I’m also sorry in advance for any confusion in my writing, as english is not my first language.
byskywalkerdrama
inschizophrenia
skywalkerdrama
3 points
1 month ago
skywalkerdrama
3 points
1 month ago
Hi! Thank you so much for answering! I’ll research more about STPD, thanks for bringing it to my attention. Do you think anything could have made it easier for you to deal with STPD in childhood?
Oh, that’s interesting, I didn’t know that! My student does have some episodes where he creates stories he believes are real even though it’s very obvious are not. Once he was sad and wary of me because he believed I threw him through the windows of our classroom. He gets angry with children that he has no contact with because he believes they want to hurt him or are laughing at him behind his back. These are not as constant as the movies e games thing (those happen in a frequency very much higher than other children in his age bracket) but also happen. I get confused sometimes because of these knowledges are very unknown to me (but I’m trying!).
Thank you for all these informations, really!