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almost 14 year old is sick, or maybe it is in his head?

My son will be 14 in a few months. He is on the autism spectrum, but fairly mild ( somewhere between PDD and Aspergers). The last few weeks I have noticed some symptoms, but I do not know what to make of them. His appetite has gone down for sure. he just is not hungry in the morning before school, and sometimes cannot finish dinner either. What really bothers me is that he has had headaches routinely this week. He just got new glasses in April, so I do not think it is his vision. Yesterday he came home from school and seemed fine. On his way up to bed he informed me that he had had a stomachache "all day long", and he still had it this morning. I sent him to school anyway since he had no fever or other symptoms. He attends a small charter school for children with behavior problems, and there are only 5 kids in the middle school room with a teacher and an aide. Apparently there have been some issues this week with some of the kids acting out and needing 1-1 attention. Taking this into account, my guess is that it is just stress, maybe the beginings of depression. ANybody have any other ideas?

Update:

yeah...I don't think this is something a hug is going to solve. He is in the charter school for a reason...his bi-polar like symptoms caused him to have acts of aggression against teachers probably once a month in regualr school. They tried for almost 2 years to deal with it at that school before he was transferred. He sees a psychiatrist about once every 3 weeks and has for almost a year now.

Update 2:

NIkki-- the prescription is new as of April, but he has been wearing glasses since he was 4. My first thought was that somehow his presciption has changed in the last 5-6 months. I am going to call the eye doc today and see if we can get him re-checked soon.

My gut is telling me it is emotional. When he comes home from school he does not act like he has a belly ache, but right before he goes to bed he claims he has had it "all day". As far as I know, the other 4-5 kids in the class are there long term, and my son is there short term...Now that think about it, maybe anxiety about going back to his home school is the root cause. This week he has been saying " I told the other kids I am trying to get back to my home school by halloween". All this stuff just showed up in the last week or so: tired despite 9-10 hours sleep, headaches, belly ache, appetite changes.

4 Answers

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  • undir
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    It is possible that this is caused by stress, anxiety, not feeling good at school or feeling nervous about something. Those things can cause physical symptoms of sickness in people with autism spectrum disorders.

    I'm 27 years old and I have Asperger's syndrome. When I'm under a lot of stress, exhausted, overwhelmed or not feeling good at work, I sometimes experience physical symptoms of sickness. I feel nauseous, dizzy, have stomach ache, headache etc. Those symptoms feel exactly the same as when I am actually sick with something, so even I can't tell whether I'm really sick or if it's just my body reacting to stress. The only difference is that the symptoms usually get better soon after I either call in sick or decide that I have to go to work anyway and get through the day. When I'm actually sick the symptoms don't go away like that. In my case the symptoms are usually worst in mornings (while I'm wondering whether I should stay home) and evenings (when I'm feeling nervous about the next day).

    Of course there is also a chance that he actually has some physical health problem. You shouldn't rule out that possibility until you've checked it better. Maybe you could have his eyes checked for the headaches and see a doctor about the stomach aches, just to make sure.

    You could try to ask him or his teachers whether things are okay at school and try to see if something at school or something in his daily life is causing him stress or anxiety that could be making him feel sick.

    Good luck. I hope that you find out what's wrong and that your son will feel better soon.

  • Anonymous
    5 years ago

    No offense - okay maybe a little, but a 14yo who had sex with a 7yo is sick! That is a high school freshman or at least an 8th grader and a 1st grader or 2nd grader! That is a pedophile in training. Are you sure you aren't a troll?! Also - at 14 you don't know what is out there for you. You have a lot of growing up to do and a lot of experiences to go through. Why put all your eggs in one basket so early. If this is true - how and why would a 7yo know about or even have the sexual desire for intercourse?! It is abuse - or at the very least a naive little girl being taken advantage by a predator. Boys still have cooties to 7year olds. You need help.

  • 1 decade ago

    It almost sounds like his going through some change to his routine. The glasses MIGHT be the cause of the headaches, from a sensory standpoint they are not only changing his vision but also feel different on his face, so he would have some readjustment problems with that. But the rest (though it could be the same reason) sounds like it may be coming from something bigger.

    If there hasn't been any major change to his routine at home, I would check with his teacher. Is there a new student or a student who left. Did they change his seat. It could even be something as "minor" as a bulletin board being redone, to him that's huge.

    If it doesn't appear to be a change (my gut says there's something different somewhere) you may need to contact his psychiatrist. He could need a med change, etc.

    I hope he feels better.

    ETA: I hope you can get to the bottom of whats causing it. Sometimes it's something most people wouldn't notice, much less be bothered by. My son was having major issues in school and at home last year, I knew it wasn't his norm and spent weeks trying to figure it out. In the end....turned out his teacher had dyed her hair. It was temp color and once it washed out, he was fine. Your his mom, I would go with YOUR gut instinct. You know him better than anyone, parents, doctors, therapists, etc.

    Source(s): 8yo son with PDDNOS w/ Aspergers and CDD traits
  • 1 decade ago

    i say just listen to him support him make sure he knows your on his side.then ask him maybe he wants to go to regular school. so if he does tell him why he can or maybe he doesn't like the changes his bodies going through. just talk to him.

    Source(s): me
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