Teenagers may be too tired to attend
school or to complete their work. They may
need to go to school part-time or not at all.
Home teaching may be necessary. The
subjects in which they are most likely to
experience a drop in grades are those that
require a person to remember previously
learned concepts, such as math, foreign
language, and chemistry and other science
courses. They may do fine in history and
English.
Loneliness can be a problem for teenagers with Lyme.
They may be too tired to participate in social activities
with friends. It’s hard for them to predict how they will
feel from day to day, making it difficult to make social
plans, which often have to be canceled. (This
withdrawal from friends is not typical of drug abusers,
who may change friends, but will socialize.) Students
who are ill with Lyme disease in high school are often
feeling better and performing better by the time they
go to college. They can arrange for an un-timed SAT
test with a letter from a doctor. If a Lyme patient has a
year or so of poor grades from illness, the doctor can
write a letter explaining the health problems and
asserting that the patient’s health is improving with
treatment. This letter can be included with a college
application.
Summary for Children & Teens
> They don’t realize what is “normal”
> They cannot always articulate symptoms
> They cannot remember sequences of events
> They need someone to listen
> They need an advocate
> They need to be believed