Time for Collaborative Brain Power

This week, I again watched the new show, Parenthood, on NBC that premiered last Tuesday. I was a huge fan of the movie with Steve Martin years ago so wanted the check out the series. After two weeks, I can say that I enjoy it enough to record the series on my DVR.

One of the interesting aspects of the show to me is the diagnosis of one of the children with Asperger's Syndrome. The son of my good friend was recently given this diagnosis. I just finished Jodi Piccoult's new book, House Rules, in which an 18-year-old with Asperger's is accused of a crime. It seems Asperger's is gaining widespread attention, at least in the world around me. Or maybe I'm just slightly more in tune with this attention...and a little envious.

My 7-year-old niece was born without her corpus callosum. The corpos callosum is the hemisphere that connects the left and right halves of the brain. Have you ever heard of disorders of the corpus callosum? Most people probably haven't. The diagnosis only comes through an MRI where doctors can see the corpus callosum missing (partially grown or thin). Individuals with a disorder of the corpus callosum have autism-like characteristics including developmental, behavioral and social challenges. And, many of these people receive an autism diagnosis such as Asperger's before it becomes known (through an MRI) that there is a physical reason for the symptioms.

I am definitely intrigued by the coverage of Asperger's lately and think it is important to bring to light. As the president of the Board of Directors for the NODCC, the national nonprofit working to support disorders of the corpus collosum, I hope we can begin to shed light on callosal disorders in the same way. It's valuable to share and educate on how these individuals are not neuro-typical, but have so much to offer the world and are overcoming challenges every day. This education will also help the diagnosis rate so families aren't tossed around in limbo for years thinking their child has another syndrome.

More importantly, if the the characteristics of callosal disorders and Asperger's are the similar, how can leaders in these communities learn from each other? I hope we can start collaborating and learning how to help cope with the challenges so everyone benefits.