Anyone Have a Child with Microcephaly???

Hi L.,

My son had and still has a speech delay (he's 10 yrs old) but he also had microcephaly around the same age. Funny thing though is that by the time he was five, his head caught up with his body. If this is the only two problems you have, don't worry. Early intervention with the speech is very important. I would keep an eye on milestones and social interactions though, just in case there may be more issues. I'm not trying to scare you because right now there is nothing to worry about. Keeping an eye though will again make early intervention in whatever may "wrong", very important. Please keep us posted and don't freak out yet.

If he got this far (21 months) and developmentally all he has is a "slight speech delay" then I feel a lot less worried for you! If you have questions, call your doctor today and ask him/her to explain why they wrote microcephaly and what they're thinking. Don't let them say, "Don't worry until we get results" because that never works.

And don't assume he has it yet, or that it's bad. It literally means "small head." Like another poster said, could just be that his head is smaller than normal with no ill effects.

Good luck!

Hi L.,

My son has microcephaly. It can be almost nothing (as in my husband who is a typical adult who wears the smallest hat size) or something significant as with my son.

I would ask you to consider contacting EI, early intervention services in Illinois. http://www.state.il.us/agency/dhs/earlyint/earlyint.html

They will send, for free, a team of therapists to evalutate your child. They do it in a very non-clinical, play based manner in your own home. They will write detailed reports for you and let you know if they find any significant delay in your child in ANY area at all. Their whole goal is to help you figure out how your child is doing and recommend treatment if needed. If he does need treatment they will provide it for free until he turns 3. My doctor was a nice guy and told me to hold off and I wasted precious months my little guy could have been getting evaluation and treatment.

Of course, they may tell you there is nothing to worry about. This is a great option to either take action, or know everything is fine.

Please let me know if you have any questions, I am in Wheaton.

K.

L.-

First and foremost, deep breath. Did the Doctors send you to have a CT done to rule out Micro or do they think that he has it?

My daughter was tested for this when she was about 5 months old. She had to have a CT done at Children's because her head growth had fallen below the curve. Today, her head (at 17 months) is still quite small but she is developing just fine.

You might want to check with your family members. Is there a chance that small heads run in the family? This was what ended up happening with our daughter. Her head size is just genetically small.

As for the speech delay, what makes you say that he has one given that he is only 21 months old? There are some kids who don't talk much or at all at that age.

Write back if you can. I would love to try to help you through this but I simply don't understand what has you thinking that your son has this.

N.