Boy, Interrupted
A rare brain disorder robs children of language and leaves doctors perplexed.

Imagine having a child with Cerebral Palsy. He is growing up as normal as possible. A three he was counting to twenty and naming his colors. One day, you suddenly find him lying in a pool of vomit. Since you believe it is only the flu, you move on. Over the next few weeks all his skills start slipping away. His language usage is reduced to low grunts, anger, and tears. To you horror he even starts banging his head on the wall. Your child is suddenly gone. Your life forever altered. What is going on?

This was the reality for Sara Cawood and her son Cody. The child who had been talking, counting, and laughing in October; couldn’t utter a single coherent word in December. Sara took her son to rounds of different doctors and specialists. They all put him on medication. Nothing worked. Little Cody had to wear a helmet at all times to protect his body from himself. The police even questioned Sara about her treatment of the child after a bloody episode. The family seriously considered giving him to a mental ward. After a particularly horrendous night, the family took Cody to the hospital. After several attempts to sedate him, a tranquilizer was successfully administered. He was then finally diagnosed with Landau-Kleffner syndrome.

Landau-Kleffner syndrome is a little known syndrome that has to do with sudden decreases in speech and language comprehension. Therefore children often become violent because of feeling “trapped”. This syndrome was first documented 1957 by Dr. William M. Landau and Dr. Frank R. Kleffner, who identified six children with the disorder. Landau, who is still practicing at Washington University School of Medicine, says wryly, “... I’m very discouraged—we haven’t learned much at all. We know nothing about cause yet.” …“I think research has not been done adequately. Doctors monitor this syndrome by using EEG’s (electroencephalogram) which are recordings of the electric activities in the brain. Thankfully, children with LKS normally resume regular brain activity around age 15. This is possibly because of the hormonal change happening as brain cells mature.

An example of this recovery is with patients #7, from Landau’s follow up study. LKS started for her at the age of 5 ½. She remembers this time as flashes of confusion. Unbelievably she is now a mother of two grown up children, and a successful cattle-rancher. For Richard Budnyj (head of the Friends of Landau-Kleffner Syndrome association) after four regressions of speech and language loss, the doctors opted to put his son in a coma to control his violent epileptic seizures and behavior. Four years later he is now a happy, healthy boy. To his parents, the fact that he will probably always be a little behind is okay, they are just grateful at his improvements

What will the future hold for Cody and other children with LKS? Hopefully more research will find the answers to what causes this obscure syndrome; and with that knowledge, medication to alleviate the horrific symptoms. Until then, at age 11, Cody’s family will watch and wait. Hoping that like other children with LKS, he will “wake-up” when he is older.

This article was thought provoking. It really made me think hard about what life would be like without language, and the frustrations of not being able to express myself in a coherent way. Also it reminded me of how lucky most parents are that their children are medically "normal". How could you stand by and watch your child suffer without faith that God is in all situations. I hope that more research will be done on LKS. Also if this article intrigued you, visit the FOLKS website to learn more.

http://discovermaga/ zine.com/2007/nov/boy-interrupted/article_view?b_start:int=0&-C=

~ do to being technicaly challenged this is really Kati on Kaylee's site~