Waiting to get diogenes

[271070]

Hi everyone I am trying to find out does eds cause behaviour problems in children

[Jay66]

The only child I knew as a teacher who definitely had EDS also had behaviour problems. However, I really don't think a sample of one counts!

I was a model child.

[cyberbarn]

This depends on the age of the child, the genetics, the environment, and the different conditions and comorbidities.

For instance about 40-50% of children with autism also have EDS, and autism is diagnosed by behaviours. There are some researchers that think that EDS is a syndromic cause of autism (corticalchauvinism.com/2013....

Setting aside neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, ADHD and others, that can co-occure with EDS, there are other aspects of EDS that might cause behavioural problems.

For instance pain often accompanies hypermobility. Children in pain don't always understand what that sensation is, nor that they shouldn't be in pain. My son took several years to disclose to us that he had a particular type of pain in his feet that wasn't as the physio and others thought, coming from the joints. This affected his behaviour; he often had meltdowns when ever he was active on his feet for any length of time. These were explained variously as autistic meltdowns to 'bad parenting'.

Likewise many people with EDS have some sort of gastrointestinal manifestation. This can result in pain, and that type of pain may well affect the behaviour of the child. Just think back to the last time you had a headache and how it affected your behaviour!

Sometimes a child can have pain and discomfort when writing due to hypermobility in their hands. This can put them off writing. But rather than tell the teachers (especially if the teachers are not good at listening) they may turn into the class clown and always misbehave so that they are sent out of the class thus avoiding writing exercises.

Does that help?

[Jay66 in reply to cyberbarn]

Really good response, cyberbarn .

The child I knew with EDS was also autistic. I wish more was known about this comorbidity, as autistic children often struggle to communicate how much it hurts so it ought to be something we actively look for.

I also didn't recognise what pain was as a child and adult - it was just a part of life.