Chiari Survey
This
survey was taken of parents with children who belong to a Chiari Support group.
The Survey was done because it appeared an unusual number of parents had
mentioned Autism or developmental problems when discussing their child.
This survey was begun 4/10/01 and completed on 4/20/01
110
families on “Our Chiari Kids” were e-mailed: 18 families had no e-address, 6
were returned for bad address. 2 responded at the site.
50
families are included in this survey of 51 children.
48 of these children are diagnosed with Chiari.
Questions
&
Answers:
1)
Has your
child been diagnosed with, or is he/she suspected to be Autistic?
12
yes 36
no
Yes
includes: 4 children with the diagnosis, 8 that are either currently being
evaluated for suspected or had traits presently or in the past. There was a
trend towards children who had traits that faded that also had decompression
surgery at an early age (prior to 4 years old). 3 of these parents reported
their children had multiple su
2)
Does your
child have any developmental delays including speech problems?
31
yes 17 no
Yes includes: 26 children with the following: speech, fine and gross motor skills delays. 3 parents reported difficulties with reading comprehension and 2 parents reported “learning problems”
3)
Has your child been diagnosed with a Chiari Malformation?
1
negative diagnosis 2
pending diagnosis 48 yes
4)
has your child had decompression surgery?
33
yes 1
5)
If so at what age?
25 by 4th birthday 8 after fourth birthday
Notes:
A
few parents reported their child looked younger or was shorter in stature than
average
Parents who felt their child didn’t need surgery tended to report no developmental delays as well.
Some Autistic children are very
intelligent or even gifted. Autistic children often have advanced math, reading,
art and musical abilities. Each child can be uniquely different.