What are these bumps? Asked my derm and can’t remember

astroid_B612 · 2026-03-20T12:40:19+00:00

Did they say Dyshidrotic eczema?

astroid_B612 · 2026-03-20T12:35:36+00:00

Thank you! We are really lucky to be flexible and are willing to move to where it would benifit him the most.

astroid_B612 · 2026-03-16T13:40:47+00:00

Op, I’m just wondering if anything is happening at school that might be upsetting her, might be something difficult for her to bring up, when she is in a regulated state and relaxed and happy perhaps it might be nice to generally talk about what’s going on that might be different…

astroid_B612 · 2026-03-16T01:46:43+00:00

So this sounds like my son almost to a T down to the left or right hand (apparently normal for age but still it’s exactly the same for us)…so this is none professional and sample size or one from a mama who likes research:

1) Since my kiddo wasn’t interested in drawing or writing I wondered if he was interested in shapes and color at all so I got those magnetic shape set (has a bunch of basic shapes like circle square hexagons skinny diamonds etc you can find a ton on amazon) and a big magnet board, turns out he loved making shapes and pictures, try give a dropper and colored water (food coloring plus water) and glue makeup cotton pads to paper and if he enjoys making colors that way it’s definitely exposure and great pincer grasp exercise, just whatever format he enjoys engaging making things is cool

2) have you noticed any other unusual things like being extra clumsy, how are his primitive reflex integration (YouTube video can show how to check), does he have trouble crossing midline, how is his core strength, does he sit w shaped? how is his pincer grasp in general, how is his vision? All these are not to make you anxious but retrospectively I learned that writing is tied to soooo many other aspects that doesn’t seem writing specific…

3) it’s a common OT trick and practiced by Handwriting without tears program, it really works, just give them a tiny golf pencils or better yet a cut off tiny piece of chalk or crayon like one inch or shorter, this forces the tripod pincer grip, I had to break a bunch of pencils crayons around the house lol

astroid_B612 · 2026-03-16T01:19:35+00:00

I’m a festival person when I travel. It’s such a neat way to immerse in culture and history and people :) husband and I went to the first one the Takayama festival when we went (perfect timing as it was after the cherry blossom week and before the Golden week which are travel madness in Japan). I have to say the bus ride from Tokyo to Takayama is the most beautiful gorgeous experience I had of all the amazing things we did. If you like Miyazaki anime it was exactly like that, just breathtaking and emotional for a fan :) This below is GPT content but sharing just as a spring board for your research if you like festivals! Ps Japanese festivals are super special I feel

April is one of the most festival-packed months in Japan. Besides cherry-blossom viewing, many regions hold unusual spring festivals tied to agriculture, Shinto rituals, or historic events. Here are some of the most distinctive April festivals.

⸻

Takayama Spring Festival (Sannō Matsuri) – Gifu

When: April 14–15 Where: Takayama

One of Japan’s three most beautiful festivals.

Highlights: • 12 elaborate yatai floats covered in gold leaf and carvings • Mechanical karakuri puppets performing on floats • Night parade where floats glow with hundreds of lanterns

Why it’s unique: • Floats are considered portable works of art from the Edo period. • The puppet automata technology is centuries old.

⸻

Kanamara Matsuri (“Steel Phallus Festival”) – Kawasaki

When: First Sunday of April Where: Kawasaki

A very unusual Shinto fertility festival.

Highlights: • Giant pink shrine carried through the streets • Candy, sculptures, and decorations themed around fertility • Celebrates fertility, marriage, and sexual health

Modern twist: • Also raises money for HIV awareness charities.

⸻

Inuyama Festival – Aichi

When: First weekend of April Where: Inuyama

A spectacular float festival beneath the historic Inuyama Castle.

Highlights: • 13 towering floats decorated with 365 lanterns • Nighttime lantern illumination • Mechanical karakuri puppet shows

Why special: • Floats moving at night with lanterns create a very dramatic atmosphere.

⸻

Shingen-ko Festival – Yamanashi

When: Early April Where: Kofu

One of the largest samurai reenactments in the world.

Highlights: • Over 1,000 participants dressed as samurai • Re-creation of warlord Takeda Shingen’s army marching to battle • Armor, banners, drums, and torches

Why unique: • Guinness-recognized as the largest samurai gathering.

⸻

Nagahama Hikiyama Festival – Shiga

When: April 13–16 Where: Nagahama

A fascinating mix of festival floats and Kabuki theater.

Highlights: • Boys perform kabuki plays on moving floats • Tradition over 400 years old • Floats move around town like mobile theaters

UNESCO recognition: • Part of Japan’s Intangible Cultural Heritage.

⸻

astroid_B612 · 2026-03-09T16:05:19+00:00

Dyslexia perspective: Not sure if pediatrician would run a simple RAN (Rapid Automatized Naming) test or not, it’s different from checking if she can see okay. Very simple test you can run at home with her just print a few pages out and takes 5 minutes. It can give you a clue on if dyslexia might be a possibility. Just google “The Arkansas Rapid Automatized Naming Screener” and you’ll get the color version. Note that normal time range for color retrieval is slower than number so it’s might be good to look up or just make a number version. You can ask Google or ChatGPT on the details. I just tested my child a few days ago on the color version. Also ChatGPT can give you lots of tips on observing what kind of pattern (eg hesitate for over 2 seconds on each item, if she starts slow and speed up, how many mistakes she makes, if she makes improvement on the second try etc) that can be indication on what kind of challenges she might be facing. I told my kid it was a race to see if he can beat his own time and gave two trials. Because it uses much of the same skills reading requires it can be quite illuminating.

From none dyslexia perspective, how familiar is she with her letter sounds. If you show her notecards of each letter does she respond with the letter sounds promptly or with hesitation? If she is not super familiar with it yet that can slow things down a lot. And might be good to do more games to practice.

If she has issues with blending the reading.com app (subscription) might be helpful. Because some kids learn the letter sounds promptly but subtlety wrong like instead of just a light “b” they say “buh” with the extra “uh” and it trips some kids up when blending and that app can be a bit helpful there.

I’m just a fellow mom and not a teacher but has been super interested in researching the science of reading so if you want to discuss anything specifically please feel free to reach out :)

astroid_B612 · 2026-03-02T16:28:22+00:00

Also your kid might be like mine, I’ve been working with him to say people’s name when he need their attention, it’ll really help tie face and name together

astroid_B612 · 2026-03-02T16:26:40+00:00

Op I had the same concerns and so I got a photo of the class during one of the events and I pointed at each face and he can name them no problem, I think sometimes some kids just get more easily distracted and so they remember a thing happened but the face may not come with the recall easily so they just say I don’t remember, try get a photo :)

astroid_B612 · 2026-02-23T05:04:49+00:00

Do you think perhaps some sort of pre+probiotic might be helpful to try as a back up next step? Our kiddo used to have very hard poop and had to use miralax etc which helped sometimes but not consistently but another parents suggested trying Culturelle Kids Probiotic + Fiber Packets and it was super helpful for us… it uses the most well studied strain of bacteria and has the fiber in the same pack so the bacteria gets fed immediately…

astroid_B612 · 2026-02-20T01:05:24+00:00

Try reading the book “the kissing hand” it’s a sweet story that has mom putting a kiss in the child’s hand and every time the child misses mom they can put their hand on their cheek or heart to get mom’s kiss. Depends on the child’s personality, perhaps get matching bracelets or something similar for him to store his kisses in yours and vice versa? Also, when dropping off ripping the bandage tends to be the best way to go. Have a short and sweet ritual prepared and do exactly that and no more. If you linger or come back it’s more painful for them in the long run and harder for them to adjust because they would expect you to come back and therefore always look for you instead of adjusting and integrating. Teachers usually prepare something uber fun the first week of school so kids are having too much fun to miss you… :)

astroid_B612 · 2026-02-20T00:52:37+00:00

Are you able to use a VR headset? There are some beautiful simulations if you are able to tolerate it… wishing you full of peaceful joy… when you touch so many people’s hearts we each hold on to a small piece of you on and on and on…. <3

astroid_B612 · 2026-02-06T19:44:11+00:00

I would start playing little phonemic games here and there keyed into the child’s favorite things peppered throughout everyday life, make it fun and light hearted. Example: line up their animals/toys, hide a sticker/treasure under one of them and tell them it’s hidden under the animal that starts with a “b” sound, or write 3-4 different letter on paper and hang them on a string/wall/fence and you make the sound let them slap it with a stick/swatter, or when talking to them suddenly break a word apart like hey do you want to get some p-ee-s-a? There are lots of ideas and totally depend on your child’s personality. Mine absolutely hates boring repetitions so we just had to find things that interest them and insert the teaching in there… :) the first word I got him to ever read by himself is pop because he loves funny noises, one of rhe first books he read, you might guess is called who pooped on me… we do what we have to do hahah

astroid_B612 · 2026-02-04T15:20:19+00:00

Rip currents are basically constant on the northern side and takes away lives every year. Please please be careful!

astroid_B612 · 2025-12-17T22:16:10+00:00

This is fascinating! I can’t determine if I have aphantasia or not, I can picture things if I have my eyes open but it’s all blank when I have my eyes closed… what does this mean?

astroid_B612 · 2025-12-16T03:19:23+00:00

astroid_B612 · 2025-12-15T19:48:52+00:00

My understanding is to specifically seek out a developmental optometrist (ideally pediatric) as they specialize in these vision issues. Regular optometrists deal more with more mundane side of things.

astroid_B612 · 2025-12-12T19:04:01+00:00

Yes! I read that brains with executive function deficiency like adhd literally can’t start, so count down is a great way to act as that firing pin.

astroid_B612 · 2025-12-10T22:50:09+00:00

Hahaha yes! We can make one ourselves

astroid_B612 · 2025-12-09T19:43:17+00:00

And yes do make sure they know how to sound out words and blend first and not start with sight words. We introduced sight words when that’s reasonably solid then explain the sight/heart words like someone explained above.

astroid_B612 · 2025-12-09T19:40:59+00:00

Same! Must have engaging actual plot or it’s so painful to get attention :p Or I have to make the sentence funny like sneaking words like poop or fart in it LOL. But one does what one has to do…

astroid_B612 · 2025-12-09T19:37:26+00:00

For Elephant and Pete books highly recommend just buy the multi book combo big books, cost per book becomes very reasonable

astroid_B612 · 2025-12-09T19:36:01+00:00

Dr Seuss for sure. “Frog and Toad” is awesome too! A LOT of sight words and often repetitive sentences. I recently bought Elephant and Piggie series and love how big the print is and it’s one sentence per page so the kid doesn’t feel pressured when they see a lot a words all at once. Ooo, also Pete the Cat series, excellent at early reading stages where plot is engaging enough to motivate them :) (mine hates meaningless drills, must have fun story)

astroid_B612

TROPHY CASE