My son had an ADEM attack when he was 18 months... He is now almost getting straight A's and is a good student. He is going into the 5 grade and loves to read. He's a typical boy with a lot of energy, he loves sports and is one of the fastest runners on his teams, but his hand/eye coordination and motor skills seem to be an issue, he has a much more difficult time catching the ball than all the other boys or girls his age. Even doing jumping jacks are difficult for him. I want to find out if ADEM is the cause? Does anyone have any ideas or similar experiences? What other potential "Side-Effects" are common with ADEM in children that have it a a very young age? We were told that because he was so young that he he would recover and heal at 99.5% rate and have a "Normal" life. Is there anything we can do to help him, should we have him tested or have an MRI done? Also we were told that having ADEM happen again is like lightning striking him twice. Is that true? Sorry for rambling...
Our son James got ADEM at 2 years old, and now at 6 he too has made a 99.5% recovery. James’s issue is also with his fine motor skills. Whilst he is an incredibly intelligent 6 year old, and doing brilliant with his reading & maths, his hand writing is holding him back. We have tried lots of different strategies to try & bring him on and sometimes we feel like he has made progress he can quickly regress if he’s tired or stressed.
He struggled with things like catching a ball so we started tennis lessons to help with his hand eye coordination which has helped immensely. He won’t be the next Andy Murray, but he doesn’t care & is happy to see he is getting better at a physical activity. He also struggled with jumping jacks, do now we get him to count as he’s doing them, really slowly… Legs & arms extended on 1, back together on 2, back out on 3, etc. If he tries to jump too fast he loses his coordination again.
We would be interested to hear other view points on this also, would having another MRI help?
Believe it or not that was some of the best news we have heard about this illness. Thank you so much for your response. If you ever want to chat email me at RexGlassMan1@gmail.com... Thanks again, Mrs. M
Mrs m said:
Our son James got ADEM at 2 years old, and now at 6 he too has made a 99.5% recovery. James's issue is also with his fine motor skills. Whilst he is an incredibly intelligent 6 year old, and doing brilliant with his reading & maths, his hand writing is holding him back. We have tried lots of different strategies to try & bring him on and sometimes we feel like he has made progress he can quickly regress if he's tired or stressed.
He struggled with things like catching a ball so we started tennis lessons to help with his hand eye coordination which has helped immensely. He won't be the next Andy Murray, but he doesn't care & is happy to see he is getting better at a physical activity. He also struggled with jumping jacks, do now we get him to count as he's doing them, really slowly... Legs & arms extended on 1, back together on 2, back out on 3, etc. If he tries to jump too fast he loses his coordination again.
We would be interested to hear other view points on this also, would having another MRI help?
Greta got hit at 8. Her fine motor skills suffered at first, but she bounced back thanks to a full evaluation and encouragement to get her things to use her hands. She loved the loop loom and making all of those potholders. But really intense stuff, she gets frustrated with, such as crocheting, holding the hook just right and yes, handwriting is also a beast. Evaluation at a physical therapist showed Greta had no issues, it was mostly practice and attention to details that she would have to work on. Given her personality (even before ADEM) this may be a long time in coming.
Mrs m said:
Our son James got ADEM at 2 years old, and now at 6 he too has made a 99.5% recovery. James's issue is also with his fine motor skills. Whilst he is an incredibly intelligent 6 year old, and doing brilliant with his reading & maths, his hand writing is holding him back. We have tried lots of different strategies to try & bring him on and sometimes we feel like he has made progress he can quickly regress if he's tired or stressed.
He struggled with things like catching a ball so we started tennis lessons to help with his hand eye coordination which has helped immensely. He won't be the next Andy Murray, but he doesn't care & is happy to see he is getting better at a physical activity. He also struggled with jumping jacks, do now we get him to count as he's doing them, really slowly... Legs & arms extended on 1, back together on 2, back out on 3, etc. If he tries to jump too fast he loses his coordination again.
We would be interested to hear other view points on this also, would having another MRI help?
My son is 9 and was diagnosed early this month. Now thinking back trying to make sense of all it all he always had issues with fine motor skill since he was a toddler. We took him to occupational therapy and it helped but catching and throwing a ball has always been difficult and I know for a fact in my son's case ADEM is not to blame. Now I am thinking that ADEM could be one of many other symptoms for another disease or disorder he may have that we still don't know. Maybe I am just over reacting this is all too new to me. The neurologist recommended to see a geneticist. Thank God he is doing great he is very smart and doesn't seem to mind about the little things he is not good at. He says we all have strengths and weaknesses.