Fearless Parent Radio – Pediatric Autoimmune & Neuropsych Disorders – 11.11.15

Host // Carla AthertonImagine that your healthy, happy child contracts a common illness and, seemingly overnight, becomes a different child, with emotional outbursts, physical aggression, strange body movements and vocalizations, and other surprising behaviors.Parents are perplexed and wringing their hands. They are witnessing dramatic and worrisome transformations in their previously healthy children.The sequence goes something like this:Infectious agents, environmental exposures, or other triggers are involved.There’s an unintended immune or autoimmune response that results in brain inflammation.The inflammation provokes severe, uncontrollable, and undesirable behaviors. These include OCD/tics, anxiety, sensory processing difficulties, and changes in varied areas, from cognition and personality, to handwriting and eating habits.Doctors don’t know what to make of it, let alone how to treat your child. But parents, registering that their children are in desperate need of help, are on the front lines of this condition that has become common enough to