Is there a link between Chiari & PDD

[Rosellen]

Is there a link between chiari & PDD,aspergers, autism spectrum disorder? My son was dx's in the past with PDD because of his learning issues. But was it that the chiari put him on the spectrum? My son's chiari is a new diagnoses, & we searched for years because he was having learning difficulties.

Can anyone help?

thanks

[Mama G]

I don't know if there is any proven link between the two, but I am hopeful that we have removed some obstacles for our son.
Our son was diagnosed with PDD within the last 6 months and during that time it was discovered that Connor had CM/SM with 14mm and the syrinx goes from C-3 to T-11. (His surgery was April 3rd.) My husband and I believe that this is the cause for his concerns. Connor is 4 and can read at the 1st grade level, but his fine motor skills were suffering and occassionally he was suffering from brain fog - making it difficult to predict his mood.
I have already seen some amazing changes for Connor, and I am hopeful that his progress will continue.
The best advice I can give is to believe in your child and ALWAYS trust your gut. If we hadn't pushed for an MRI we would not have been able to stop the progression of the syrinx.

Good Luck!

[LIZARD110366]

I am sure there is. I am constantly finding families whose kids have both, as my son does, and some time ago, I started a group: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/autism-chiari/. This is also currently being studied by Dr. Martha Herbert at Harvard. I had the honor and pleasure of speaking with her at an autism conference here in Providence a couple of years ago, and she excited me with her research. The study's findings will probably be published in the coming months.


LIZARD

[Rosellen]

Thank you for your advice, it's been very reassuring