Joe has PANDAS- Basically there’s inflammation of certain areas in Joe’s brain. It is an autoimmune condition initially triggered by strep infections, which disrupts a child’s normal neurologic activity. For Joe, he presents with OCD, anxiety, separation anxiety, and food issues. He won’t eat certain foods because of texture or smell or if it’s messy. He can’t eat in the school lunchroom due to the smell and loud sounds. He has fears of being in groups and crowds or anyone paying attention to him. I ignored the diagnosis for about a year. It was my way of hoping it wasn’t true. But there were things that Joe did for years that I always felt were unusual for children to think about or need. Joe was like an old man...everything he had had a place, and he would never throw things away and he knew when anything was touched or moved! His clothes were an issue too. He would only wear the same thing.
