My understanding is that theses children with bi-polar, ADD, ADHD, RAD,
autism, asperger's,  have structural differences in the brain that make
their wiring different, often in the limbic ystem that makes for difficulty
regulating emotion and the plunge into fight or flight behavior fo what is
perceived as survival.

I had a client whose child was  a very fusy baby and very aggressive as  a
toddler. It was not until she had a brain scan that the  parents and doctor
understood something specific was going on with this child. They had
previously thought it was temperment and were greatly relieved to have a
greater understanding of their child.

It seems that more and more children are coming with these hindrances to
relating to other humans starting with breastfeeding and snuggling with mom.
I suspect that eventually professionals who work with infants and mothers
will have some sort of abilities to identify these children and support the
whole family from birth.

Does anyone know if such tools for assessment are currently available for
infants?

Lisa Boisvert Mackenzie


on 8/28/2005 12:06 AM, LACTNET automatic digest system at
[log in to unmask] wrote:




I am kind of giggling here....My son is one of the "Bipolar"  exfussy baby
types.  As I stop and think, it is funny how many people just  assume that
because a child is bipolar, or ADHD, or sensory integration  dysfunction or
a 
miriad of other mental disorders, that must mean they are of  lesser
intelligence 
too.  While some of these kids do have issues with  learning disabilities
(that 
once accomodated for are no longer an issue), these  kids are not
necessarily 
low IQ.  My bipolar son is in second grade, reads  at a 4th grade reading
level, was the highest scoring student on the  standardized tests last year
in 
his school.  He is advanced in math and  science, his teachers are amazed.
He 
will be tested at the end of the year  for G.A.T.E. program.  So yes, my
challenging infant just might be a gifted  child....with bipolar and all.
(BTW..he 
was breastfed fully for first 4  mos and didn't have any reflux issues)

Renee Drake RN CLC



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