Seeking Some Answers

by Rachel
(Poland, OH)

My little guy, Tre, is 3 1/2, and my husband and I always just thought he was "quirky." Since he was about 18 months old we have had eating issues, he went from pureed baby food only to only hard or crunchy foods. This means that he eats some fruits, most vegetables, pretzels, chips, crackers and little else. He won't eat any meat, cheese,or pasta. If I even put a little bit on his plate he has a meltdown.

As he got a little older I noticed more odd behaviors. He has a passion for music, especially marching bands, he likes to pretend he is marching with drums or horns. He also loves fire trucks, he has tons of them. So when he was 2 my parents and I took him to his first parade in our hometown. We thought it would be a great experience for him. Boy, were we wrong! I've never seen him so scared, he was shaking and crying, his heart was going a mile a minute and he was begging us "Guys, lets go home to my house." He has been to several parades since then and is always so excited to go and the minute he hears that first drum beat-even if it's way off in the distance, he has the same reaction. He gets that way if we get too close to a fire truck or police car, too. He is always asking me, "Mommy, what is that sound?" And it's usually something I didn't notice. Now that it is summer he practically jumps out of his skin every time someone in the neighborhood cuts their grass, and he cries and covers his ears the whole time my husband cuts ours or when I run the vacuum.

He has never liked tags on his clothes and will throw a tantrum if I don't cut them off. And though he is unable to undress himself very well, he always begs to have all of his clothes off.

He starts preschool soon and I am pretty nervous. Like I said, we always just thought he was "quirky" until a dietitian came to our house to evaluate our daughter, who has severe acid reflux, and she ended up evaluating him too. She gave me some articles and I made him an appointment for next week. Man, I read those symptom checklists and almost cried. I feel like maybe I should have known more to help my son. Hopefully though, help is on the way.