The hospital Avner moved from emergency to the pediatric floor on that Friday afternoon. Avner arrived at the hospital early in the morning after a difficult evening, still asleep and unable to cooperate, nonverbal and resisting attempts to examine him.
Barbara and I woke early Friday morning. We had taken a gamble on my hunch, based on an article I had found on the internet. The day before had been an unqualified disaster. Avner destroyed personal possessions, taken a stab at ruining his most important friendship and scared us as his parents. We chose between calling for emergency services to have him involuntarily committed or going with the hope that
I stumbled into a description of Kleine Levin Syndrome almost as if by divine providence. I suggested to our family therapist that Avner’s extreme behavior problems might be directly related to sleep, instead of sleep being a response to another primary behavioral problem. When he suggested that we pursue that possibility, I started looking for an explanation. It seems odd to me now that I was looking for a medical
One night, as we watched tv on our living room sofa, I found something different than all the results for narcolepsy. It was a Wikipedia article about a very strange disorder called Kleine Levin Syndrome.
Among the other troubling behaviors Avner exhibited, he would sometimes drop off to sleep while on the way to school. He would fall asleep against Barbara in restaurtants or in the car after dinner. Sometimes it would be a struggle to wake him to go home or come inside our home.