Girl, 4 years old, Down syndrome, difficult speech, chewing and nail biting problems
This young girl with Down Syndrome is sweet and sociable. She has a generally healthy twin brother. Her challenges are mainly physical. She was late in her physical development (standing, crawling, walking), even compared with other Down children. She had very low tolerance to physical activity, due to serious heart defects, which were substantially addressed with surgery at age 2½. She has shown substantial intellectual ability. At around 2 years of age, she knew the normal amount of “words” for her age (compared even with non-Down children), though she could express them only in American Sign
Language, which is now typically taught to Down children. Her speech was very delayed, which was thought to be mainly a physical problem (fine motor coordination of the mouth and larynx typical of Down syndrome), but also there was talk of a diagnosis of dyspraxia, which is a brain-based neurological disorder affecting motor control of the speech apparatus. She receives speech, occupational and physical therapy on a regular basis.
The issue at age 3½ is putting everything in her mouth, chewing on things, for example shredding her shoelaces with her teeth, and chewing on her fingers, biting off the fingernails down to the quick. She sometimes bites them until they bleed. Also, she is starting to be under more pressure in her speech therapy, and the daycare program is also starting to be more like school and more is being expected of her. She is not making progress with her speech.
She loves attention, of family or of strangers, and is very outgoing. She is also stubborn, and can be manipulative, but in a cheerful way, such as doing what she has been told not to do, with a smile or a laugh. She sometimes gets irrational fears in odd places, for example, she has an extreme fear of a particular bathroom at day care. With the fears, she clings to Mom.
She likes starchy, rich, highly flavored food. She will eat anything with tomato sauce on it. She likes black bean quesadillas, also ice cream. Not so much for sweets per se, which her brother craves. She likes strawberries and other berries and apples. She is not given a lot of citrus because of some acid reflux (which is common for Down syndrome). She has some tendency to minor stomach upset, but the parents have been unable to pinpoint any particular food problem. They have tried various diet eliminations, without improvement. She continues to have a hard, bloated abdomen, which she has had since she was an infant, and for which there has been no particular diagnosis.
She has been successfully treated in the past with some remedies, including
Calcarea for fussiness in the night, and
Antimonium tartaricum, which rapidly cleared her lungs from severe pneumonia at 2 years of age (prior to her heart surgery).
AnalysisAraceae family, 632: Communication issues, speech therapy, the goal is to communicate verbally (
Series 3). The problem is control of the body. Speech is delayed because of trouble learning fine motor control of speech muscles (
Series 2). From Wonderful
Plants, we have the following description. “They felt that more was asked from them than they were able to do or understand; they did not feel as if they were grown up enough for the situation. Situationally, they may be handicapped..”
Arisaema triphyllum (Arum triphyllum), stage 4: Compulsively chewing on things. Checking in with Vithoulkas (Materia Medica Viva) we find, “A reliable keynote for this remedy is its tendency to bite the finger nails so much that they bleed, or to bite the fingers and lips.” Vithoulkas also notes a decided focus of the remedy on the mouth, pharynx and larynx, and both the mother and I felt that the biting actions were an expression of her trying to gain mastery over the apparatus of speech.
Follow upPrior to
Arisaema triphyllum, a repeat of
Calcarea had no effect.
Medorrhinum stopped the biting for a few weeks, but it returned and a repeat was no longer effective. In February 2016 (at age 4), she is given a dose of
Arisaema triphyllum 1M.
April 2016: The nail biting has completely stopped. Also no more problem of putting things into her mouth, or chewing or shredding things with her teeth. Her therapists have noticed and commented on the change. She is doing well in her speech therapy, and has become “a chatterbox” according to her mother. It is hard to understand her, but she is very enthusiastic about speaking. She still uses some favorite signs, for emphasis, or to be understood.
July 2016: The nail biting has returned. The problem of her putting everything into her mouth, and shredding things with her teeth has never returned after the first dose, only the nail biting. Remedy is repeated.
August 2016: One dose of
Arisaema triphyllum gave immediate improvement by the next day. She will put her hand to her mouth, but then withdraws it, or briefly puts a finger in her mouth. No chewing of fingers or nails.
September 2016: There has been some nail biting again, since starting pre-school, with new routines for the new school year. Once again, more is being expected of her, mentally and physically. But, the problem of putting everything into her mouth and chewing on things has never returned. She is now speaking in sentences. The stomach upsets are a thing of the past, the mother having forgotten all about them. The abdominal bloat is no longer an issue.
October 2016: Everything is fine. Although a repetition had been suggested, she has needed no more remedy. She bites her nails some, but it is not a problem.
January 2016: She is now expressing herself verbally in sentences and complete thoughts. She can now be understood by everyone, not just her mother.