sever delays in receptive and expressive language

[joanna hanna]

we have a little girl that just turned 2. her nurologist noticed that she was not talking or understanding as well as she should be for her age.  we recentally had a completev speech eval on her and she was all over thespectum in one area from 0-3mo to31 mo in her speech and the same think with her expressive language most of what she was behind in was her fundamentals she should had learned when she was a newborn.  she did have a pda ligated at 6 1\2 mo and slept alot due to the condition which left her with a disfunction LV for almost 7 mo after her surgery she still has a dialated cardiomyopathy and mild mitral regurgitation. but even with that she was behind in attachment and bonding coming in at 18-20 mo. this bothers me because she is very frindly with every one and will run off even in a crowd. she also has a generalized siezure disorder that mad its self known when she was 16 mo they fill they are related to hypoxia r\t breath holding but shouldent a child be able to hold breath for more than 10-15 seconds a not have a siezure.  at anyrate is it odd to have a child that can not understand what is being said to them or not understand what they are saying to you and for that child to be way ahead in other areas. she just recantly turned2 on the 1-29-00.

[joanna hanna]

our daughter was just dx with verbal auditory agnosia basucally she cant understand spoken words acording to her nuerologist it just sounds muffled because her brain doent know how to process the information the other possibility is launden kleffner syndrome which always results in a abnormal eeg (this may be possible with your daughter) with this disorder a child may suddenally loose their ability to speak and understad or it may heppen over time.  you may check with her nuerologist see what he has to say.  needles to say we really hope thisis not the case with our 2 yr.  she only speaks maybe 30 words compared to over 100 fora normal 2yr and we did not notice a delay until she started to have siezures at 16mo.  best luck with you daugter even though thinks seam bad it can and probaly will improve with time.  also our nuerologist said tat compiters work miracles they cant explain it but it does work most of the progress that i notice is from thinks she learned from her games(jump start baby, and fisher price ready for school toddler, he also recomendedwhat he referad to as miracle workers fast for words,daisys quest, earobics)once again good luck :)

[C COOPER 05/11/00]

MY DAUGHTER WAS BORN WITH A SIEZURE DISODER DUE TO HER BRAIN FORMING ABNORMALLY DURING PREGNANCY. CONSEQUENTLY HER BRAIN FILLED WITH FLUID TO COMPENSATE IN SOME AREAS. SHE ALSO HAS CEREBRAL PALSY AND A PERVASIVE DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDER SIMILAR TO AUTISM. SHE IS ALSO ALL OVER THE SPECTRUM DEVELOPMENTALLY. SHE WILL BE 4 YEARS OLD SOON AND SHE UNDERSTANDS AT A 2 YR. LEVEL AND FUNCTIONS AROUND A 1 YR. LEVEL AND SPEECH IS JUST STARTING TO BE ABOUT A 5MO. LEVEL. SHE ONLY COOS. THERE IS SOME LETTER SOUNDS BUT NO WORDS. I AM GETTING HER ALL SORTS OF THEREPY AND SHE IS IN A PRE PRIMARY IMAIRED CLASSROOM DURING THE WEEK. BUT SO FAR THE PROGRESS IS VERY SLOW. ESPECIALLY IN SPEECH. I AM VERY CONCERNED IF SHE IS TAKING THE RIGHT KIND OF MEDICATION.(SHE TAKES DEPAKENE AND 15MG OF PHENOBARBITOL,SHE IS BEING WEENED OFF THE PHENOBARB) I FEEL LIKE THERE IS STILL A PIECE TO HER PUZZLE THAT DOCTORS/ SPECIALIST/TEACHERS HAVE NOT FIGURED OUT YET.HER DOCTORS THINK SHE WILL COME FULL CIRCLE AND LEAD A NORMAL LIFE,BUT FROM THE PROGRESS WE'VE SEEN ,I FELL BAD FOR SAYING THIS, BUT I DON'T HOLD OUT MUCH HOPE. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY ADVICE OR COMMENT ON MY DAUGHTERS SITUATION? IT WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED.

[C COOPER 05/11/00]

MY DAUGHTER WAS BORN WITH A SIEZURE DISODER DUE TO HER BRAIN FORMING ABNORMALLY DURING PREGNANCY. CONSEQUENTLY HER BRAIN FILLED WITH FLUID TO COMPENSATE IN SOME AREAS. SHE ALSO HAS CEREBRAL PALSY AND A PERVASIVE DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDER SIMILAR TO AUTISM. SHE IS ALSO ALL OVER THE SPECTRUM DEVELOPMENTALLY. SHE WILL BE 4 YEARS OLD SOON AND SHE UNDERSTANDS AT A 2 YR. LEVEL AND FUNCTIONS AROUND A 1 YR. LEVEL AND SPEECH IS JUST STARTING TO BE ABOUT A 5MO. LEVEL. SHE ONLY COOS. THERE IS SOME LETTER SOUNDS BUT NO WORDS. I AM GETTING HER ALL SORTS OF THEREPY AND SHE IS IN A PRE PRIMARY IMAIRED CLASSROOM DURING THE WEEK. BUT SO FAR THE PROGRESS IS VERY SLOW. ESPECIALLY IN SPEECH. I AM VERY CONCERNED IF SHE IS TAKING THE RIGHT KIND OF MEDICATION.(SHE TAKES DEPAKENE AND 15MG OF PHENOBARBITOL,SHE IS BEING WEENED OFF THE PHENOBARB) I FEEL LIKE THERE IS STILL A PIECE TO HER PUZZLE THAT DOCTORS/ SPECIALIST/TEACHERS HAVE NOT FIGURED OUT YET.HER DOCTORS THINK SHE WILL COME FULL CIRCLE AND LEAD A NORMAL LIFE,BUT FROM THE PROGRESS WE'VE SEEN ,I FELL BAD FOR SAYING THIS, BUT I DON'T HOLD OUT MUCH HOPE. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY ADVICE OR COMMENT ON MY DAUGHTERS SITUATION? IT WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Dear JMH,

Generally, some abnormality will have been demonstrated on the brain studies.

[JMH]

is it possible to have landau-kleffner syndrome with normal eeg,ct and mri.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Dear jmh,

Development does not proceed in an even manner in most children. A child may well be ahead of the norm in some areas, within the norm in others, and somewhat behind the norm in others.

Having said that, though, your daughter is definitely experiencing a problem that is not within the normal 'developmental lag' spectrum. I suspect that her language problems are related to her neurological condition. Some epileptic disorders (e.g., Landau-Kleffner Syndrome) are associated with deficits in langyage development. Discuss this possibility with your daughter's pediatrician, pediatric neurologist, etc. It might also be worthwhile to have your daughter examined by a developomental pediatrician.