Faking Illness

[AnnMarieTN]

So 2 weeks ago when my difficult child was placed on probation, he was told that if he missed school or had behavior problems at school, he would be considered in violation of his probation and would be returned to the detention facility.

School was closed the first 3 days for snow. Thursday and Friday both I had to go pick him up from school because he said he was sick. Amazingly, after a couple of hours of being home, he was much better.

I told him on Friday that unless there was puke or blood, I would not come pick him up from school.

Today, I get a phone call that he was sick and needed me to come pick him up. A staff person did witness him throw up.

I really feel like this is just another way for him to get out of school and he made himself throw up.

For all the been there done that warriors, any suggestions? I'm going to mention it to his probation counselor when we meet next week.

 

[BusynMember]

Well, I had a foster child who we caught sticking his finger down his throat to make himself throw up. So it's certainly possible. You may alert the school that this could be happening.

 

['Chelle]

This has been tried only once or twice at our place. My kids know that if they're home sick from school, that means they're too sick to sit up playing video games and watching TV. Sick during school hours means being in bed those hours, maybe quiet activities like reading. They don't play sick, because it is usually worse than being at school. Gets awful boring laying in bed with nothing to do for 7-8 hours if you're not actually sick. I really only enforce this if I'm suspicious they're not sick.

 

[DaisyFace]

My kids know that if they're home sick from school, that means they're too sick to sit up playing video games and watching TV. Sick during school hours means being in bed those hours, maybe quiet activities like reading. They don't play sick, because it is usually worse than being at school. Gets awful boring laying in bed with nothing to do for 7-8 hours if you're not actually sick. I really only enforce this if I'm suspicious they're not sick.

That's our "sick policy", too. It's almost as good as the "Nanny McPhee" version, except that I don't have any really nasty tasting medicine that I have to administer every hour whether it does anything or not.

on the other hand--anxiety can actually cause really real and really terrible sickness--which can result in upset stomach, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, headaches...

So I guess you need to determine whether this is:

REAL sick caused by germs/virus...

REAL sick caused by anxiety...

Or FAKE sick caused by convenience.

The treatment will be easy once you figure out the "cause" of the illness.

Good luck!

--DaisyF

 

[AnnMarieTN]

Well, he has no access to a computer and I took the phone, so he cannot call anyone either. When I checked on him last, he was sleeping.

I have a similar sick policy too lol. If he is too sick to be at school, then he is too sick to do anything else.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[aeroeng]

When my difficult child was 2, and before I knew he was a difficult child, his Dr. said to ignore the temper tantrums. Walk away if needed. Then he developed a new strategy, he would make himself throw up by putting his finger down his throat then play with the results. You can't ignore that. I would say, "If you are sick, you must go to bed". I would clean him up and put him in the crib and let him cry. This discouraged him for a few weeks. Then he got mad one day and decided to throw up again. Only it had been long enough that he forgot to use his fingers. Little two year old boy leaning over making gacking sounds with nothing coming out. He got so mad! Little face turned all kinds of shades of red. I said, "I'm not telling you the secret!" and walked away.

This of course won't help you at all. I don't think you can put him in the crib. But, I wish you could.

 

[susiestar]

I have been known to make herbal tea (harmless, but some of them are really gross from the health food store) and administer that every hour or two on a child pretending to be sick.

It adds to the stay in bed, no games, etc.....

But with my kids if they actually fall asleep I KNOW they are sick. Esp my youngest.