I can’t believe I forgot where I came across LKS, but I’m pretty certain I read it somewhere or I wouldn’t wrote it down as a reminder to write an entry about it. Anyways, for anyone who has not heard of this disorder, here are bits of information for you.
What is LKS or Landau-Kleffner Syndrome?
It’s basically a childhood disorder. LKS usually happens in normally developing kids between 3 to 7 years old. It’s major feature is sudden or gradual loss of ability to speak and understand. The dilemma is triggered by abnormal brain waves which can be monitored and studied by the use of EEG or electroencephalogram. EEG records the brain’s electrical activity.
Eighty percent of the children diagnosed with the condition experienced epileptic seizures mostly at night. Depression, aggressiveness and hyperactivity may also be telltale signs of LKS, which is also referred to as infantile acquired aphasia or acquired epileptic aphasia. Such disorder was first diagnosed by doctors William M. Landau and Frank R. Kleffner in 1957; thus, the name.
With unknown reasons, children with LKS find it difficult to comprehend what is being said to them. This auditory agnosia, which doctors referred to as “word deafness” or auditory agnosia, occur either slowly or quickly. For the most part, parents’ initial thoughts are that their child is experiencing hearing issues or sudden deafness. But hearing tests decipher normal hearing. Some kids diagnosed with the condition may also look developmentally delayed or autistic.
Eventually, with the incapability to discern language, the child’s speech will be affected to the point of loosing his or her ability to talk. However, children who are able to write and read prior to acquiring Landau-Kleffner Syndrome oftentimes continue communicating by means of writing. This results to a practice of sign language or some sort of gestural communication. Later on, as the disorder progresses, communication problems can lead to psychological and
behavioral issues. Good thing is, intelligence isn’t much affected.
As earlier mentioned, seizures are apparent occurrences in children with LKS. Somehow, the seizures mostly stop at teenage years. With LKS, children are found to have abnormal electrical brain activity on the left and right sides of the brain. Moreover, the language problem continues to persist, ranging from difficulty on following commands to loss of verbal communication. On some instances, recovery is possible but may take some time, like months or years.
Landau-Kleffner Syndrome’s cause is unknown. Yet, medical experts think that such is triggered by more than one cause. In general, children who acquired LKS were initially normal until the onset of language problems or the first seizure. LKS is unlikely to be an inherited disorder since no reports have been found of children with a family history of this disorder.
Are there treatments for LKS? Yes, there are. Treatments include medications which aim to control the episodes of seizures and the abnormal brain wave. However these anticonvulsants are known to have little effect to correct on the language ability, but corticosteroid therapy does, on some cases.
