I teach 1st grade. I have a student in my class who has trouble focusing her attention and controlling her bowl movements. In addition, there are possilbe signs of neglect. I have been told that this behavior could be a result of sexual abuse. Is this true?
It is always important to consider violence or neglect if you notice a marked change of behaviour of a child. But there are a lot of other reasons that might cause this impairment.
There are neurobiological based disorders like ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) which can cause this problems as well and hyperactivity is not a necessary criteria. So you might have a student with problems of concentration and distractibilty and maybe impulsive problems with a diagnosis of adhd. These children can have enuresis and enkopresis (= bedwetting and problems to control bowl movements).
If the impariments cause long lasting problems you should talk to the parents. This child might need a child psychiatrists or a skilled psychologist.
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