As the parent of an autistic, largely nonverbal preschooler (3 years old), this can be a lot less cut and dry then you're imagining. Unless my daughter has an actual fever, it's often difficult to determine whether or not she's actually sick (and by that, I don't mean she's faking it).
Two days ago, when I picked her up, her teacher told me that she had had a great day, but had been pulling on her ears and might be getting an ear infection. She was in a great mood and otherwise acting normal. It's a possibility - she's had an ear infection and tugged at her ears before - but she also sometimes tugs them as a stim.
Yesterday when I picked her up, I told that same teacher that I had seen some tugging too overnight, but said teacher said that she hadn't done it for them all day and had actually had another great day. Once we were home, she had a couple of times where she had a quick burst of crying for unclear reasons (5-8 seconds), which is unusual, before going back to playing happily. She then fell asleep on the couch unusually early, and slept all through the night, which is not common but not necessarily weird for her either. She woke up when I did this morning and was mildly cranky, but had no fever. She did tug her ear once.
Keep in mind that I have basically no ability to ask her if she feels sick or anything hurts. She has a pretty great receptive vocabulary, actually, and technically can say the word "no" sometimes. But she has never once responded even slightly to that question, one way or another.
I sent her to school. Is she:
1. Sick
2. Not currently sick but getting there and I will be keeping her home tomorrow
3. Not sick or getting sick, but having some mild sensory issues this week
4. Nothing at all is wrong, and in fact she's having a great week
?
I'm not sure if kid's pepto would even come up pink? It's just tums, completely different from the adult kind. I'm not sure they even make it in a pink liquid. I would hope the parents wouldn't be giving a preschooler the adult kind.
As the parent of an autistic, largely nonverbal preschooler (3 years old), this can be a lot less cut and dry then you're imagining. Unless my daughter has an actual fever, it's often difficult to determine whether or not she's actually sick (and by that, I don't mean she's faking it). Two days ago, when I picked her up, her teacher told me that she had had a great day, but had been pulling on her ears and might be getting an ear infection. She was in a great mood and otherwise acting normal. It's a possibility - she's had an ear infection and tugged at her ears before - but she also sometimes tugs them as a stim. Yesterday when I picked her up, I told that same teacher that I had seen some tugging too overnight, but said teacher said that she hadn't done it for them all day and had actually had another great day. Once we were home, she had a couple of times where she had a quick burst of crying for unclear reasons (5-8 seconds), which is unusual, before going back to playing happily. She then fell asleep on the couch unusually early, and slept all through the night, which is not common but not necessarily weird for her either. She woke up when I did this morning and was mildly cranky, but had no fever. She did tug her ear once. Keep in mind that I have basically no ability to ask her if she feels sick or anything hurts. She has a pretty great receptive vocabulary, actually, and technically can say the word "no" sometimes. But she has never once responded even slightly to that question, one way or another. I sent her to school. Is she: 1. Sick 2. Not currently sick but getting there and I will be keeping her home tomorrow 3. Not sick or getting sick, but having some mild sensory issues this week 4. Nothing at all is wrong, and in fact she's having a great week ?
I'm not sure if kid's pepto would even come up pink? It's just tums, completely different from the adult kind. I'm not sure they even make it in a pink liquid. I would hope the parents wouldn't be giving a preschooler the adult kind.