Unable to tell us he's unwell

[Noskcaj86]

My son has a stomach bug, but hes never told us when hes unwell. Is this just his age or maybe to do with possible asd? The only way we knew something was up was because he got sent home from school, hes been acting fine though apart from the fact he slept for 12 hours last night which is very unusual!!

[Lyndalou]

It can be quite difficult to gauge when my son is unwell or if he says something is 'sore' etc, what exactly is sore and how bad the problem is. This is due to his speech disorder but it is possible that it may not occur to your son (or my son) to tell you (or me) how he is feeling or he might not recognise how he is feeling. Over the last week or so, I have been letting the school know how my son has been sleeping, what his mood has been like, if he has been complaining about anything and I've also been keeping an eye on the fact that his sister is full of the cold as is my husband as it is likely that my son will also be affected by this, if not now then it is brewing! In return, the school has been letting me know how he has been there.

 

I wouldn't worry too much right now about your son 'telling' you about how he is feeling. There are 'clues' like you say as to how he is feeling. You are being kept informed by the school and as you say, he is sleeping more than normal which is a good indicator that he is a bit under the weather. If you think in future that your son is ill it might be an idea to ask him directly if he feels unwell.

 

When my son (and my daughter, who also can't 'tell' me how she is feeling due to her age) seems 'off' I keep a good eye on their temperature, how much they are eating, I push fluids, keep them warm and contact the doctor if I think it is necessary. There have been times that I've maybe left it a bit late as I had no idea he had a throat or an ear infection! I normally tend to give them Calpol if they are really whingey and keep a good stock of Karvol (I think the children's stuff is useless) at this time of year so that they get a decent night's sleep.

Edited November 30, 2012 by Lyndalou

[sesley]

same,i ask direct questions,like does your tummy hurt,do your limbs ache. Mine is 13 tomorrow and he is beginning to express when he feels un well.Last week.i came home from work to find him getting up from a darkened room. he had a head ache.and felt cold.so he watched tv with a blanket around him,had some calpol and a drink. I decided against giving him his dinner,but just a peice of toast,because the toast is less messy when vomitted sure enough the toast came back and before he could make it to the bathroom. oh the joys.

Edited December 1, 2012 by sesley

[Noskcaj86]

Yes, the joys! My 10 month old is also now vomiting and my 2 year old still is. And there dad is too, so thats 4 out of 6 of us that have got the bug so far! My son seems to get stomach bugs a lot, then spreads them to the rest of the family. My 2yr old seems to get colds a lot, and spreads tham to everyone too. Cant wait for them to be a bit older so there are less illnesses (I hope) thanx