Don't eat that!

 

* Neuro diversity awareness/acceptance*

Kira was always ultra sensory in terms of exploring her world via her mouth. 

This is a hundred percent normal for every baby and it was hard to distinguish between what was considered acceptable and where the line was drawn that there was a deeper disorder. 

Everything went in Kira's mouth to explore and make sense of it, however there is a point where most babies outgrow this phase. As a toddler she was still doing it to an intense level. She would eat paper, chew chunks out of her cot sides, chew crayons openly, but then we found out what she was doing in secret. 

She started to look ill, she wasn't hungry, her pallor turned gray and she was showing signs of abdominal discomfort. The doctors couldn't shed any light. She was eating inedible substances in secret, once this was exposed she started to rapidly improve health wise but I was very aware that I was on my own with this issue (the gp just wasn't interested), I had to address this with her as soon as possible. 

The house had to become ultra child proof, with me checking the child locks on cleaning substances daily and watching her carefully with crafts. 

Making an ultra safe environment for a pica sufferer was one thing, obviously that was the first port of call.

However I cannot protect her all her life, she had to learn the dangers from this young age. Each item she came in contact was explained to her, in terms of it's purpose and why is it dangerous for her to eat. I also had to try and find some techniques to manage the compulsion. I have had no help with this from professionals, I just used good old fashioned common sense and my husband's unique perspective. 

 Kira is encouraged to come to me for a snack if she feels that urge brewing and she's really good at that now. She also asks if she can eat something before she does. She has had a few slip ups and I've learnt lessons (I did not know that toothpaste can make you ill in large quantities over time), but the condition is well controlled overall now. She snacks on raisins, carrots, strips of mango. Fidget spinners help keep her hands and mind distracted. She does chew on her sleeves and rubbers on the end of pencils at times, but they're more common habits. 

I hope my posts over the last month have been helping to raise awareness of what lies behind the label autism/neuro diversity. It's not a condition to just nod and dismiss whether it's a child in your class or an employee, please ask how you can help them, to make life easier for them. 

I'm sharing this in case it can help someone else. Obviously don't panic that you're looking at your baby right now exploring with their mouth. It is a natural part of exploration. It's when they're aged three, four, five and still needing reminding not to eat something inedible or still exploring their environment via their mouth, you may want to keep a closer eye on it. I was told official pica is a rarer sidekick to autism.