February 21, 2005
Behavior, Other
Question from Federal Way, Washington, USA:
My 10 year daughter was diagnosed in November 2002. She had sudden onset of type 1 and was admitted to the ICU for DKA for approximately 24 hours. We have noticed since that time her ability with “reasoning/recall” in school/home is lessened. She does well in certain subjects, but in math, she tends to fail all her tests now. If given more time to complete the test/assignment, she does well. At times, it appears she is searching for “words” to complete a sentence.
Have you heard of or do you know of any learning disabilities that affect children with sudden onset of diabetes? I am working on having her tested by a neuropsychologist and a learning therapist. Is there anything else I should do? Her teacher is threatening to fail her.
Answer:
I am sorry to hear about your daughter’s problems. It is very difficult to attribute them to any single event but an episode in ICU for DKA may suggest that she had some brain swelling and this can certainly cause problems later. I think the expertise of a professional assessor would be helpful because this will assist in targeting the particular needs that she has.
KJR
