19/05/2018
Here is a story from a parent who tried everything to fix her son. An example of how often the medical profession ignores tongue tie, and how the consequences can be severe:
"I have been an occupational therapist for 18 years, but I would like to share my experience with my own son as an example of what happens when as professionals (and as parents) we do not consider all aspects of a child's functioning. My 10 year old is currently in a school for behaviorally challenged kids. He has been progressively doing worse every year in school. He is currently failing fourth grade. He is number three of four kids and he has had us baffled for years
Last year, I had all the academic testing done bc I was sure he had some form of dyslexia like his older brother. He has no learning disabilities. So we decided he was just being lazy
We had his hearing checked, his vision checked, blood work. We took him to counseling.
His diet has always been horrible (lives in sugar and carbs) so we went to a nutritionist and spent $100s on supplements. Nothing stopped him from getting sugar (and no it's not in the house) so we lectured him daily about his bad choices.
His was always touchy and quick to anger, so we decided he had anxiety and gave him everything from rescue remedy to CBD oil. Nothing worked
He was always a picky eater, had difficulty chewing and he grinds his teeth so I did oral desensitizing-didn't change a thing
I tested him for integrated reflexes-he still had a Moro and some others-so I did reflex integration with him for months. Didn't change his behavior at all
I realized he had visual processing issues so I pushed for school based OT. He's had it for two years
I homeschooled him for two years bc I thought the school did not fit his needs. He never listened to me either.
Had him tested for ADHD. Nothing
So basically we gave up and listened to the school and decided he was just being a "bad" kid. And we let them put him in a special school
And then a myofunctional therapist looked in his mouth and told us he was in serious trouble. He had a sleep study done. He has severe obstructive sleep apnea. He wakes up more than 13 times an hour-not breathing. His airway is too small. He has a tongue tie and a lip tie that was never caught and caused his palate never to form correctly-obstructing his airway. All his behaviors, attention issues, eating issues-100% related. He hasn't reached deep sleep in years. The ENT told us he is grinding his teeth at night to keep his airway open. And he is eating sugar all day to keep himself awake. His other delays-probably bc his body never rests and regenerates.
Do I feel guilty? Absolutely. But as professionals we are in a unique position to help other parents navigate through. I thought I had covered all bases, I was wrong
Edit: I want to add that he never displayed "typical" signs of sleep apnea. He does not appear to startle while sleeping and sleeps quietly with his mouth closed. He does have night terrors, sleep walking, was always resistant going to sleep and teeth grinding-all signs of apnea I never knew about. He also told me on several occasions that he doesn't dream. I thought he was nuts. But it turns out that he doesn't. His body panics whenever he goes into deep sleep (bc the airway relaxes) and he wakes up."
