Back in the summer, I found out that my autistic son had what was called a Chiari Malformation, Type 1 of 15mm. In a nut shell, the opening at the base of his skull where the brain stem meets the spinal cord was too large, causing his cerebellar tonsils (bottom of the brain) to fall through the opening, causing crowding and restricted flow of the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). That fluid is partially responsible for the oxygen and nutrients that your brain needs to survive.
This kind of condition occurs during the early stages of pregnancy and there is no known cause of this defect. Most people who have this defect can go their entire lives without realizing that they have this. Others, suffer from headaches, blurred vision and balance impairments along with learning disabilities and spinal bifida complications. Among the learning difficulties could be included is autism.
There is a surgery called a Chiari Decompression surgery to where they enter at the base of the skull and create room (if the area is too small) or create a shelf (if the area is too big) to help keep the brain in place and allow for optimal flow of the CSF. Sometimes, they need to shrink down the cerebellar tonsils so that they are not enlarged and cause possible future complications.
The chances most of the time of this surgery helping with the learning disabilities and such are about a 50%/50% chance. The success rate of improving if not eliminating the headaches and such are about 80-90%.
My son, had the surgery and within a day was already showing improvements in some of his cognitive abilities. He went from not being able to read a 3 paragraph story and answer the questions correctly (he would put random answers that had nothing to do with the story) to now he can read the story, remember the information more accurately and answer the questions accurately.
School work wise, he is starting to work on some grade level projects and is getting great grades in everything.
These results are just one of many things that could be possible. We found out about the condition while looking for something else. His autism had gotten worse and he seemed to regress tremendously out of no where. When we spoke with his developmental pediatrician and his regular pediatrician, they both agreed that neurology should take a look at him. They did an MRI to see if there was anything going on in the brain that they could see along with an EEG. Aside from the Chiari Malformation, everything came back normal. However, he had the largest malformation that they have ever heard or seen in a child his age.
This kind of condition occurs during the early stages of pregnancy and there is no known cause of this defect. Most people who have this defect can go their entire lives without realizing that they have this. Others, suffer from headaches, blurred vision and balance impairments along with learning disabilities and spinal bifida complications. Among the learning difficulties could be included is autism.
There is a surgery called a Chiari Decompression surgery to where they enter at the base of the skull and create room (if the area is too small) or create a shelf (if the area is too big) to help keep the brain in place and allow for optimal flow of the CSF. Sometimes, they need to shrink down the cerebellar tonsils so that they are not enlarged and cause possible future complications.
The chances most of the time of this surgery helping with the learning disabilities and such are about a 50%/50% chance. The success rate of improving if not eliminating the headaches and such are about 80-90%.
My son, had the surgery and within a day was already showing improvements in some of his cognitive abilities. He went from not being able to read a 3 paragraph story and answer the questions correctly (he would put random answers that had nothing to do with the story) to now he can read the story, remember the information more accurately and answer the questions accurately.
School work wise, he is starting to work on some grade level projects and is getting great grades in everything.
These results are just one of many things that could be possible. We found out about the condition while looking for something else. His autism had gotten worse and he seemed to regress tremendously out of no where. When we spoke with his developmental pediatrician and his regular pediatrician, they both agreed that neurology should take a look at him. They did an MRI to see if there was anything going on in the brain that they could see along with an EEG. Aside from the Chiari Malformation, everything came back normal. However, he had the largest malformation that they have ever heard or seen in a child his age.