Meltdown at PT

Lila had a meltdown at PT today. The day started out normally- except for the fact that she didn't want to eat breakfast. She is usually a really good eater. (She did this yesterday too. Didn't want to eat breakfast, ate a little better at lunch, by dinner she was super hungry. )

When I picked Lila up from school today the teacher told me that she had a great day. She was standing up and trying to play on her feet with the rest of the kids. (YAY) She had a scheduled speech session today and the therapist came back into the classroom and told the teacher about the long list of words that Lila said in speech. After school I brought Lila home, fed her a quick lunch-she refused everything but the grapes- and took her to PT. Everything was fine for the first few minutes but then she started yelling "No!" and grunting at Carla, the therapist. Carla put her in the tub of rice and beans, which she loves, but she still wasn't happy. Finally Carla found a shape sorter toy and Lila calmed down a little bit. Then she started getting frustrated with that toy, too. The last straw- she started biting on the plastic tub. Her back was to me so I couldn't really tell what was happening. She made a couple of noises and it sounded like she might be crying. Carla shot a questioning look in my direction but I couldn't tell what was going on. Carla told Lila, "I'm going to count to 3 and then pick you up." So she counted to 3 and gently started to lift Lila but Lila was still holding on to the plastic tub with her teeth and she wouldn't let go. I stepped in at that point and Lila finally let go but when we lifted her up it was obvious that she had been crying. 3 kleenex later, full of snot and tears, we headed out. Lila was clinging to my neck and shaking. At one point Carla said something like "Where were you, Lila? I don't know where you went but you weren't with us." I was very troubled by this whole thing and it was obvious Carla was too.

Maybe this doesn't sound like a big deal to anyone else. The thing is...... Lila doesn't really cry. Even when she has an ear infection. A double ear infection. She's one tough kid. Everyone in our family knows- if Lila's crying, there is something very wrong. She cries out, she yells, she grunts. She doesn't cry. It is very very rare to see tears.

I'm sure she's fine, maybe she is just worn out. Over-stimulated. We had a big day yesterday- we had a little Memorial Day get-together and she had 3 friends her age and one friend that's a little older to play with. They stayed until it was time for her to go to bed and she didn't want to go to sleep. A late night, up early for school, a busy day at school and then therapy. We'll see how she does tomorrow. Maybe I'll take her to the doctor just to make sure she doesn't have another ear infection.

Any thoughts?

Linda

2 comments:

  1. I know as a parent you really get concerned when your child is not acting usual. Our daughter usually lays down at night real well to go to sleep but last night she cried and cried. And then today our little boy was pretty whiney and the only thing we could chalk it up to was too much sun from yesterday? I was just thinking maybe if you were outside alot yesterday maybe she got too much sun? Of course we are in Texas so it's probably hotter here than where you are. But I probably agree with you, she was probably just over-stimulated and too tired. Your little Lila is so beautiful!
    Take care,
    Shelli

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  2. Yeah, that is kind of scary. So unlike her. Over stimulation, yes, but I'm with you. If it happens again tomorrow a trip to the dr is a good idea. When she's acting out of character it's a good thing to make sure she's not sick. Acting up was the only way way I knew when one of ours had one.

    Then again, I have to wonder if she's missing Tiff, too. That could be part of the overstimulation. It takes awhile for that to set in sometimes and you never know what goes on in those little minds.

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