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Physically,
complete ACC is a condition that does not change. It will not get
worse. Since the corpus callosum is already absent, it cannot
regenerate or degenerate. Likewise, in partial ACC and hypoplasia, once
the infant's brain is developed, no new callosal fibers will emerge.
In
that sense, disorders of the corpus callosum are conditions one must
"learn to live with" rather than "hope to recover from." Long-term
challenges are associated with malformation of the corpus callosum, but this
in no way suggests that individuals with DCC cannot lead productive and
meaningful lives.
What are the common developmental problems that may occur with disorders of the corpus callosum?
Behaviorally
individuals with DCC may fall behind their peers in social and problem
solving skills in elementary school or as they approach adolescence. In
typical development, the fibers of the corpus callosum become more
efficient as children approach adolescence. At that point children with
an intact corpus callosum show rapid gains in abstract reasoning,
problem solving, and social comprehension. Although a child with DCC
may have kept up with his or her peers until this age, as the
peer-group begins to make use of an increasingly efficient corpus
callosum, the child with DCC falls behind in mental and social
functioning. In this way, the behavioral challenges for individuals
with DCC may become more evident as they grow into adolescence and
young adulthood.
Behavioral Characteristics Related to DCC
This is an overview of the behavioral characteristics which are often evident in individuals with DCC.
- Delays
in attaining developmental milestones (for example, walking, talking,
reading). Delays may range from very subtle to highly significant.
- Clumsiness
and poor motor coordination, particularly on skills that require
coordination of left and right hands and feet (for example, swimming,
bike riding, tying shoes, driving).
- Atypical
sensitivity to particular sensory cues (for example, food textures,
certain types of touch) but often with a high tolerance to pain.
- Difficulties
on multidimensional tasks, such as using language in social situations
(for example, jokes, metaphors), appropriate motor responses to visual
information (for example, stepping on others' toes, handwriting runs
off the page), and the use of complex reasoning, creativity and problem
solving (for example, coping with math and science requirements in
middle school and high school, budgeting).
- Challenges
with social interactions due to difficulty imagining potential
consequences of behavior, being insensitive to the thoughts and
feelings of others, and misunderstanding social cues (for example,
being vulnerable to suggestion, gullible, and not recognizing emotions
communicated by tone of voice).
- Mental and social
processing problems become more apparent with age, with problems
particularly evident from junior high school into adulthood.
- Limited insight into their own behavior, social problems, and mental challenges.
These
symptoms occur in various combinations and severity. In many cases,
they are attributed incorrectly to one or more of the following:
personality traits, poor parenting, ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome,
Nonverbal Learning Disability, specific learning disabilities, or
psychiatric disorders. It is critical to note that these alternative
conditions are diagnosed through behavioral observation. In contrast,
DCC is a definite structural abnormality of the brain diagnosed by an
MRI. These alternative behavioral diagnoses may, in some cases,
represent a reasonable description of the behavior of a person with
DCC. However, they misrepresent the cause of the behavior.
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