confusion - loss of memory ?

[liamnmrs]

Hi all, just wondering if anyone could offer any advice or experienced similar. My son is 6 and has asd, he has recently started to forget where he is or what he has done. He comes home from school and asks if he has just got up or has he been to school today. Have taken the boys out over the easter holidays and on the way back he has asked "are we there yet " and is very distressed when we try to recap what we have done.

 

Before he has one of these "spells" he becomes very pale and his eyes just seem to stare ( sorry I dont know really know how to explain this ) I have asked doctor and CAMHS for advice but they are saying it is just due to short attention span?? I am not convinced as he has always has a very short attention span but these incidents are increasing.

 

Any advice gratefully received

thanks

[pearl]

I'd go back & mention the words "absence" or "petit mal" which should focus their attention. Not saying it is, I'm not a doctor, but they should at the very least rule it out.

[Sally44]

I agree with Pearl.

If this difficulty was just down to problems understanding time, which are typical of Executive Functions, then your son might not understand the timeframe of things or what order they happened in, or whether it happened yesterday, today or tomorrow, but he would remember them happening. This sounds different.

[cmuir]

Hi

 

I've noticed that my son's short term memory isn't great, but yet he has an amazingly long memory. For example, he forgets what he had for lunch, but can remember what that four red cars were parked in a row in our street 4 years ago!

 

Could simply be fatigue, but it's certainly worth mentioning as sometimes other conditions can cause memory loss, etc.

 

Caroline.

[Kazzen161]

Agree with Pearl - it should be investigated further. There is a link with epilepsy and ASD.

[jb1964]

Hi,

 

My daughter has epilepsy as well as ASD - when the Paed. first started investigating - they told us that there are 'episodes' that are familiar with asd children/adults which can be similar to epilepsy but are not - they then carried out EEG/MRI's etc to rule those out.

 

I think it's worth mentioning to your GP or Paed at your next visit. Also, make notes of these events - i.e. what time of the day, how long did he appear confused - when he's staring - how long is this for, how is his breathing/any noises, pupils, etc. I know it can be difficult to get my daughter to explain how she feels (and she's 15) - but a direct question like does his mouth feel dry (thirsty), or does he feel sick, headache etc - does he feel sleepy or have a nap afterwards?

 

Take care,

Jb

[westie]

I have a niece who had episodes like you describe she was diagnosed with petit mal siezures (epilepsy) I agre with other responders and would ask your gp/ a different doctos for a referral, and in meantime keep writing down exactly what happens before, during and after each time he has one. My youngest went through a phase where he kept doing some wierd kind of shaking/ eye rolling thing. He had EEG which was fine and we put it down to being related to his ASD but your incidents dont sound similar to that. Any chance you could film him on a mobile or other when he is showing the behaviours? Paed. said this would be very helpful but I never managed it.

[westie]

I have a niece who had episodes like you describe she was diagnosed with petit mal siezures (epilepsy) I agre with other responders and would ask your gp/ a different doctos for a referral, and in meantime keep writing down exactly what happens before, during and after each time he has one. My youngest went through a phase where he kept doing some wierd kind of shaking/ eye rolling thing. He had EEG which was fine and we put it down to being related to his ASD but your incidents dont sound similar to that. Any chance you could film him on a mobile or other when he is showing the behaviours? Paed. said this would be very helpful but I never managed it.

Its not my niece, its my cousin actually, must be the late hour I posted, sorry. She was about 13 or 14 when the episodes started being noticed. Just wanted to get across that I too think they ought to be taking notice of you

[liamnmrs]

Thanks everyone for your advice. He has had another one today and have noticed he always says he has a headache and tummy ache just after. He also says he is really tired. Have spoken to doctor who is reluctant to refer back to ped as on last visit becuase he has SPD he would not let her examine him, which I dont know what I supposed to do, this cant be helped ? have explained my concerns again and got an appointment for CAMHS for next week so hopefully they may take me more seriously. Will try and tape them as I know this has worked in the past with things.

 

Thanks again for your help.

[Sally44]

I think it would be sensible to speak to your GP and ask about seizures etc.

The other thing you mentioned is headaches and tummy ache. My son, from when he was a baby, used to have horrendous screaming fits and would be doubled up in pain. I would always be on the verge of heading to the A&E department when the pain killers would kick in. But it always took a dose of calpol and ibuprofen to get it under control, and it always took about an hour for it to work. Anyway, when he was around 3 he was diagnosed with abdominal migraines. Apparently children can have migraines in their stomache as well as in their head.

My son also gets migraines as well.

Two things I have noticed with my son about this. On some days he really feels the pain. On other occasions, although he is still having a migraine, he might not feel the pain as much, but he still has the nausea, tiredness and when he has recovered he doesn't remember much of what happened previously.

And my son can at times withstand enormous levels of pain without even mentioning it. Once we didn't know he had an ear infection until his head swelled up on one side! When I asked him 'does your ear hurt', he said 'yes I can't get to sleep at night'. But if I hadn't asked the question he would not have volunteered any information at all.