Lesmahagow parents seek help for daughter’s pica

Family fears...Alasdair and Nikki with their daughter Charlotte, who has a very rare eating compulsion (Pic Lindsay Addison)

Four-year-old Charlotte Cook is waiting to be diagnosed formally with autism.

But she also has a rare condition, pica, which means she eats strange materials – textured fabric.

She has eaten the living room rug, grazed on the cushions, eaten the fur off her favourite toy and devoured some of the stuffing inside it.

The arm of the couch is threadbare where she cropped it – “scalped it” is her father’s term.

“It is a sensory need,” said her mother Nikki. “But it is a slow process to find help and to get answers. We are frustrated waiting and hoping for someone to help us.”

Nikki and Alasdair are desperate for assistance.

Charlotte sees a paediatric doctor, a speech therapist and an occupational therapist but they have not been able to help with the eating problem.

For the full story, pick up a copy of this week’s Carluke and Lanark Gazette which is in the shops now.