no myelination at the time of birth

My niece who is just four months old is one of the twins born in July 2009.unlike her sister her developmental milestones are very slow. She doesn't show any eye contact when we call her or move certain objects around her, yet when she is put in the cradle she feels bit secure and then sometimes looks straight to us but without much smile .She gets agitated the moment her the rocking of the cradle stops . She also is fussy in her feeding habits and arches back many times while taking the feed and also otherwise .Most of the time she only cries and doesn't seem to show to get engaged in looking towards any colorful object or activity. When she was just born her face was bit swollen and she was much jittery. Her tests revel low glucose percentage at the time of birth. Her brain MRI when she was just 2 months old shows no sign of MYELINATION and her head's circumference is smaller than the normal size. We consulted Pediatric Neurologist suggested that only remedy or relief can be through EARLY INTERVENTION THERAPY. Her vision and acoustic reports are all normal. Please tell us clearly whether myelin can develop even now or she will remain spastic life long and this therapy is an endeavor to make her self reliant? We are searching for right guidance .We are all educated people and would do our best to help her live as normal  a life as she can .Please tell us the future line of action and reasons why thi occurred and how we can debvelop myelination if at all .we could
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[Bre333]

Hello,
I am sorry to hear of this. My first guess is that she will develop communication problems, Myelination is required to form to verbally communicate and form language acquisition skills in the Broca's area, wernicke's and arcuate fasciculus. If there is in fact no myelination from birth to 1.5 years in these area's, it's a safe bet to say communication and language may be severely delayed and/or impaired.
Myelination develops on and around the axon's of nerve fibers or neurons and allow them speed of processing. It allows for a smooth flow of neural impulses (speed of information) through the brain and holds significant weight in cognitive processes and motor skills. This is an on-going process that usually peaks at age 11-13. To help you better understand, think about Parkinson's Disease or Multiple Scoliosis. These are two diseases that degrade the Myelin sheath.
Studies show that the more you can stimulate a child, the more myelination occurs. Try to read to her as much as possible and communicate around her as much as you can. The more words, sounds she hears, the more stimulated she can become.
I would suggest Applied Behavior Analysis for her as soon as she's able to engage.
I wish you and your family the best of luck...

[kavita65]

thanks for the reply that seem to assure us that we are moving in the right direction. We consulted the neurologist and have started giving early intervention therapy.She seems to be responding to it .Her diet ,sleep and movements show little improvement but still she doesn't show signs of  identifying or recognising people around nor does she smile etc.I guess this would happen gradually..