ASD, EDS, BJHS, PDD, SPD, ADHD ~ what's in a label anyway?

When our children are having difficulty, we naturally want to pinpoint the cause. Was it something I did to cause this, did something happen to my child, or is it genetic?? Sometimes these answers do not come so easily; sometimes they take lots of persistence and patience to unveil.

"Why would you want to label your child?" I have heard this question more times than I care to remember. Doesn't everyone have a label? I am a girl, I am a mom, I am tall... those are some of my labels. Just because a child has a label it does not mean that label defines their whole being. They are more than their label, they are individuals with individual needs. This label allows them to get all the help they can for their difficulties. It allows me to know what they need and what to expect from them. Their labels allow me to help them get the most out of life. Their label does not hold them back, it allows them to move forward.

Some of you may wonder what some of these labels are. ASD, EDS, BJHS, SPD, PDD, and ADHD are the one that effect our family. Lets start at the beginning.

Meet little Noah one year old here. He was our first experience with a label. Noah was a smart interactive baby and toddler until he hit two and began to regress. He lost all his language skills and disappeared into his own little world. Of course his body was still there but something had taken my sweet little boy's personality. Shortly before his third birthday, he got his label. ASD ~ Autism Spectrum Disorder. The label/diagnosis was the first step in a long journey over the next several years.

Our next label was for Miss Nicole. After 6 months of being in pain daily momma bear had to fight for her to get seen by the right doctor who diagnosed her first with BJHS ~ Benign Joint Hypermobility Syndrome. Later she got the label of EDS type 3 ~ Ehlers Danlos Syndrome type 3. While some doctors (including ours) believe that BJHS and EDS type 3 are one and the same, they are both very similar regardless and treated the exact same. This label allows us to know that her joints are going to hurt and what to do to prevent it as much as we can as EDS is treated differently than other joint pains. Oh and Nicole doesn't get off with just those labels she also gets the ADHD ~ Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The ADHD is pretty well managed by cutting out red food dye and sugar. I call it red dye and sugar induced ADHD.

Niles is hopefully our last label. He is following in big brother's footsteps. He is showing many of the red flags for autism. We are working on getting evaluations and working with professionals to get the right label for him. So far he has PDD~ Pervasive Development Disorder and SPD ~ Sensory Processing Disorder. Although I am sure he will end up with the ASD label.

Getting an accurate label is very important to be able to do EVERYTHING you can to help your child deal with their difficulties.

That is why I would want to label my child.