Master LC, a nine year old London, was born on the 34th week of gestation, via a normal delivery, but prolonged labour. The baby did not cry immediately after birth and weighed 2.5 kgs. He was kept under observation for five days. He had a history of normal milestone development. His speech had developed and he could say words like ‘pasta’, ‘biscuit’ and ‘juice’. He was a bright child and had good grasping power.


But by the age of two and a half years, his parents started noticing some changes in him. He had poor social interaction and he started regressing with his speech slowly.


They consulted a psychologist and he was diagnosed with a case of Autism at the age of four and a half years. Ever since that, he was attending a normal school with a shadow teacher. Later at the age of six and a half years, he was sent to a special school and received regular occupational therapy and speech therapy once a week. His mother was conscious about his problems and tried every possible treatment.

 

During this tough ordeal, she came across Autologous Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells Grafting as a treatment option for Autism through the internet. She contacted NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute to know more about the therapy. And the rest, they say, is history.


They reached India on the last week of September 2013. The normal checkup was conducted based on his condition. He was admitted in September 2013 and his case was thoroughly examined. According to his mother’s verdict he had the following symptoms- Poor social interaction, fleeting eye contact, inappropriate emotional responses like irrelevant laughing and crying without reason, motor mannerisms like finger fidgeting, rocking etc. smelling objects, presence of unusual noises, fearful of loud noises, weak fine motor skills, poor – fair perceptual and cognitive skills.


On a closer examination, he was found to have Tactile, Vestibular, Proprioceptive and Olfactory Hyposensitive and Auditory Hypersensitive. Although, he was independent in all his activities of daily living, his mother was mainly concerned about his difficulty in buttoning, zipping and lacing even prior to the treatment. Upon assessment, his Functional Independence Measure score was 74.


On a closer study, he scored 117(70%) on ISSA {Indian Scale for Assessment of Autism} and 34 on Childhood Assessment Rating Scale.


On 1st of October, he went through autologous bone marrow mononuclear cells grafting for Autism in India and after which he was under regular rehabilitation for one month. He was under several therapy sessions like Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and Psychological Session for six days a week for one month.


On the final day of therapy, he had the following improvements as reported by his parents


Improvement in Perceptual and Cognitive Skills:

  • Eye contact was better.

  • Overall attention and concentration improved especially while speaking to him.

  • Overall awareness had increased.

  • He could swing on his own (which his parents were trying to teach him since 5 years).

  • He could point out his body parts like eyes, ears and nose.

  • He could identify alphabets and could place it in order on the board.

  • He identifies shapes and can insert in the 3D box.

  • He could now identify red and yellow colour and also he could do sequencing of beads and flower links.

  • He could identify red and yellow colour with shapes.


Improvement In Sensory Problems

  • Earlier he would pick up his T- shirt and ask his parents to scratch his stomach which has completely stopped now.

  • His auditory hypersensitivity has reduced considerably. He could tolerate the sound of a baby crying in the room, also people talking around him. Ear closing was minimal during the session and outdoors.

  • Motor mannerisms had reduced in public places.


Improvement in Social Interaction and Communication

  • He could now play ball throwing and catching game in a group with his parents and therapist.

  • Previously when they were on Skype with his relatives he needed to be forced to interact with their relatives but now he points towards them and greets them.

  • He used to grab his parent’s attention by vocalizing. He now tries to convey his needs by pointing accompanied by making noise.


Improvements in Activities of Daily Living

  • He can now button his shirt.

  • He can now cross and make an initial knot for tying shoe lace.

  • His fine motor skills have improved.


His parents were extremely happy and delighted on seeing his improvements. They are in regular contact with all the professionals at NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute via email.


Hi parents expressed via email by saying that he is doing well on most days. They are following all the therapist’s commands. He learnt how to zip up completely since they went home arrived. He was then able to do five colours threading and sequencing. Buttoning process has also improved. He was able to make straight lines vertically and horizontally without a ruler and he was able to hold the pen firmly and try to write the letter O. He also began trying to colour inside the shapes without play dough. He was doing fine for now, and that they still need to brush up on more. They were still struggling to teach him to tie the shoe lace, but the parents were taking it easy and were optimistic that they would slowly get there. They take him roller-skating. He attended his first ice-skating lesson and he did quite well. He also joined swimming classes and in the meantime the parents were trying to organize different play groups (art and craft etc).