What are the Early Signs of a Neuropsychological Disorder

While these indications are not diagnostic by themselves, a child exhibiting even a few of these characteristics may need to be seen by a specialist. If you are in doubt at all, the chances are that your child needs an assessment.

Emotions

• Tearful, weepy, sad.
• Excessive fears for his/her age.
• Worry a lot: About the past, future, competence, approval, family finances.
• Excessive worry in terms of intensity, frequency, and duration.
• Plummeting self-esteem i.e. ‘I hate myself.’ ‘I’m so stupid.’
• Unusual sensitivity towards pets and animals.
• Low energy. Persistent boredom. Social isolation.
• Loss of interest or enjoyment in favourite activities.
• Excessively sensitive towards loss (family pet, death of a grand parent).
• Anger out of proportion with the circumstances.

Behaviour

• Bouts of Rage
• ‘It’s your fault’. It’s always the other kid’s fault, or the teacher or you.
• Self-righteous (can never see the other person’s point of view). He/she is always right and everyone else is always wrong.
• Rigid and inflexible (an attempt to gain control and freeze things in the present moment).
• An attraction towards power in the physical world: i.e. fire, guns, knives, chemistry, electronics, war etc.
• Living with a time bomb, walking on eggshells, very irritable.
• Talk of running away from home or attempts to do so.
• Perfectionist, obsessive drive to be the best.
• Extreme difficulty losing a game. Extreme sensitivity to failure.
• Frequent erasing of written work.
• Fussy re: socks and/or underwear.
• Sensitive to noise, light, taste of food, and smells, less sensitive to cold and pain.
• Does not want to go to school. Refuses to go to school.
• Difficulty with transitions or change.
• Rituals –often preceding a transition, it makes them feel safe.
• Frequent physical complaints: –headache, stomachache, aches and pains.
• Victim/bully issues.
• Eating/sleeping problems. Difficulty getting to sleep/staying asleep/waking too early. Excessive late night TV.
• Blurts out in class.

Academic Functioning

• Learning Disability or gifted.
• Inability to concentrate leading to poor performance in school and frequent absences.
• Drop in school grades of 10 – 20 %.
• Extreme difficulty with homework.
• Difficulty with multi-step requests or tasks.
• Lack of motivation with school work, but very good at computers or electronics.

Reviewed by M. Kodsi, M.D., Child and Family Psychiatrist.