Achondroplasia (dwarfism)

[dEHmom]

Do any of you parents or providers have any experience with this?

Would you think it would be wrong if I suspected a child had this, and asked the parents? I am fully suspecting this is the reason behind a lot of the things going on with one of the children I have in my care. It would explain ALL of the things that point me to believe something is just not the same as it should be with other children her age.

1.5 yrs old
Does not walk/talk
Limbs are shorter than you would usually see (fingertips reach waistline)
Very tiny child (IMO about the size of a 6-9 month old
Large forehead but nothing too major
Eyes appear farther apart
Constant cough (Dr. says due to improper swallowing, pools saliva)
Flatter looking nose
No real chin, face sort of narrows down into the neck area
Fragile feel to child (no real muscle tone)

I will be checking the hands when she wakes up from her nap. Apparently a good indicator that it is achondroplasia is a triton look to fingers.

I am unsure if this is related or not, but child often tilts head backwards when sitting or looking around. Whether this has to do with the narrow eyes and them being farther apart, or if it's something to do with the drainage from nose and mouth (swallowing).



Parent's have not informed me of this, and they did have to fill out medical questionnaire prior to enrolling, there is no space to check off anything like that.

I am not concerned about the care of this child being an issue, as she is a pleasure to have, and I know of the other health concerns with her, such as some heart conditions the drs are watching. And I am positive that the dr. is aware of all this, just by seeing her, which means parents are likely aware of it.

I could be totally wrong on this, but i just feel like IF this is the case, and the parents ARE aware of it (which I guarantee you they are if it is in fact true), then this is information they should have told me.

I am mostly concerned about a gentle way to approach this with the parents, as i do not want to upset them, hurt their feelings, or insult them.

[Heidi]

than don't. It sounds like you have enough information to care for her properly. Having an official "diagnosis" wouldn't help you.

Maybe they prefer not to have her labeled (whether she has that condition or another), because they feel people will treat her differently, however subtley.
If she has obvious physical differences, that will happen soon enough.

I had a parent enroll their child once, and the father made up some excuse that she couldn't be there for the interview. I asked all the usual questions, they filled out the forms...no "special needs".

Needless to say I was a little shocked when they showed up on that next Monday, and saw that the 3 yo clearly had Down's Syndrome! I would NOT have excluded her for it. She was a joy to have in my group, and I am so glad I got to have her there. I was just a bit suprised, and that was a bit akward!

That is the only time I've ever enrolled a child without meeting the child.....

[dEHmom]

Yeah that's what I was thinking too. I just think that with what I've learned about it, depending on the severity of it, there could be safety concerns for her.

Like maybe I need to keep her separate from the older kids. i definitely don't want to treat her any differently, or give her "special" just because she is smaller, but her safety is important to me. And if just playing around older kids could be extremely dangerous then i will keep her maybe in my large play yard outside rather than crawling around.