Sadly adults are not the only ones to get Chronic Fatigue. Children as young as 2 have been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue syndrome. Children have much the same symptoms as adults but they tend to be less able to explain. Also for years early to rise OR you were lazy. Culturally our chronically tired children like adults are going to have a hard time getting others, including their doctors, to understand.
You can find a detailed description of childhood Chronic Fatigue Syndrome at KidsHealth
The majority of children with chronic fatigue syndrome (up to 94%) experience worsening of their study performance due to the physical and cognitive symptoms. 20-44 percent of them must be home-schooled because they are too ill to attend classes.
This came from About Chronic Fatigue
Interesting that so many kids with chronic fatigue are homeschooled. I understand though. In one of my first large lupus flares in high school I remember becoming so tired that I started crying. I had no control over it and it was not emotionally based. I went to sleep and woke up over 24 hours later. I can remember my thinking getting fuzzy and my grades dropping during that time. I never put it together until long after high school.
So how can we accommodate our child’s fatigue issues while still ensuring a complete schooling?
Enlarge print and try colored papers. This will lessen eye strain and possibly give your child more time to read.
Have rest periods all through the day. Don’t wait until your child is tired. If you can rest for 15 minutes between subjects retention will be higher.
Don’t rely on rote memory. Face it there are some things that must be memorized like simple math facts. When dealing with material that doesn’t need to be memorized teach instead how to retrieve that information when necessary.
Be ready to teach and learn at unexpected times. If Saturday is a great day take a couple of hours and homeschool. There will still be plenty of time to go play. Driving in the car? Bring a notebook to draw and write about what they see.
Others may not understand. You will have to run interference for younger children. Be firm and do not accept the idea that your child needs to get pushed to their limit to get better. Talk to your doctor about how far your child needs to stretch and under what circumstance would be the safest, such as therapy. For the older kids you are going to have to teach them to respectfully stand up for themselves. Teens with chronic fatigue are more prone to depression. They are dealing with the normal change in feelings associated with the teenage years and now they have to deal with a chronic illness. They may feel that their life is over before it has ever begun.
Note to teens: I am sorry that you are dealing with chronic fatigue. Yes you do have a larger burden than most. You can learn to deal with it and live a life that is wonderful. As I said before, I started getting sick in my high school years. Then I got really sick, 4 months in the hospital. I met a wonderful man just before getting really sick. We wrote to each other and finally he was there when I got out of the hospital. He knew I would be sick the rest of my life. He knew that some things he wanted to try such as scuba diving would not be possible with me. After thinking about that this wonderful man asked me to marry him! I am glad he thought is through. We have been together 13 years!
Trust in the Lord to guide you. God loves you deeply and will strengthen you to make it through today and the many tomorrows yet to come.
God bless my friends! May you have the strength deal with today!