To SCHIZ KIDZ BUDDIES!

This web site is provided for persons with Schizencephaly and their parents, families, physicians, therapists,and friends.

Schizencephaly is a rare developmental disorder characterized by abnormal clefts in the brain's cerebral hemispheres. Persons with Schizencephaly may present with varying degrees of developmental delays, seizures, delayed speech and language skill, vision and eating disorders. Many have normal intelligence. They may also have microcephaly (abnormally small head), mental retardation, hemiparesis or quadriparesis (partial or complete paralysis)and reduced muscle tone (hypotonicity). Some may have hydrocephalus. Schizencephaly occurs when there is a failure of the normal migration of neurons from the germinal matrix zone at 1-5 months of gestation. Some theories suggest that possible causes of this are in-utero stroke,early gestational viral infections,and recent Italian research has linked Schizencephaly with a mutated gene called the Homeobox gene EMX-2. If the gene EMX-2 is missing or defective, nerve cell growth and migration will not occur normally and this will lead to the formation of the 'clefts' associated with Schizencephaly.

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More Information From
National Institute of Neurological Disorders

We are approximately 1200+ families who communicate with each other through our daily EMAIL LIST. The Email List is the "heart" of Schiz Kidz Buddies.... we ask questions, air frustrations, share about our families and our children with Schizencephaly and in doing so gain invaluable support from others who "have been there".