I haven't read the book, and probably never will, but I would think the mother isn't afraid of synesthesia; she probably never even heard of it. She's afraid that her child might have a serious mental illness, in the same way a parent would be afraid that her child might have a serious physical illness - a perfectly normal reaction to the thought that the child may be in danger.
The average neurotypical parent would think, "Oh, shit, my kid is having hallucinations!" They'd probably suspect physical disorders first, such as fever, brain tumor, accidental ingestion of illegal drugs, or head injury, but if the child seems otherwise perfectly okay, then they'd think of "insanity" as depicted in popular media. Based on TV and movies, mental illness must be like diabetes or leukemia - a severe, chronic, progressive disease that wrecks the life of the patient and everyone around hir, that can be treated and "managed", but never actually cured.
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