Agenesis Corpus Callosum

Special Olympian wins London's first world gold

Doctors said it was unlikely she would walk, but 15-year-old Sara Albers has beaten the odds.

A gold medalist in long jump at the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece, Albers was the youngest athlete on Canada's team and is the first Londoner to win gold in the history of those Games.

Albers returned home July 5 with the top prize for jumping 2.68 metres. That's not all. She also brought home a bronze medal in the 200-metre dash, running the distance in 32.48 seconds.

"It leaves me breathless to watch my daughter, especially since we were told that she probably wouldn't walk or talk," said Sara's mother, Jennifer Albers.

Sara has an agenesis of the corpus callosum with a Dandy-Walker variant. It means that the portion of her brain that controls motor skills is grossly underdeveloped, being roughly 25% of what it should be, explained her father, Bill Albers.

He added that only half the signals that should pass between the left and right hemispheres of the brain actually cross the bridge that connects them.

"Her neurologist is amazed. He never put limits on Sara," said Jennifer Albers. "I think it's her personality and her tenacity that's brought her (this far). If she wanted to do something, we just held our breath, put a lot of pads on her, and away she went.

Not only is Sara a skilled athlete, she is dedicated, having committed to a rigorous training schedule five days a week, while she was still in school, said Dennis Bordin, one of her coaches.

"She never complained. The coaches always told her, 'If you're not feeling up for it, we understand,' " he said.

"They'd say, 'If you're tired, you can have a break.' Sara's response would be, "Well if you're tired, Dennis . . . ,' " Bill Albers said with a laugh.

Sara, going into Grade 9 at St. Thomas Aquinas secondary school in September, has no plans to slow down.

"I did my best and I'm proud of it. I'd like to go again and win more medals. I feel really great," she said. "The Special Olympics are really good for me. They've made me stronger."

Jennifer Albers said she agrees with her daughter.

"The Special Olympics have given her a platform to excel within her own abilities, and they're helping her get to wherever her ceiling is. Knock on wood, I don't think we've reached it yet."

The World Games ran from June 25 to July 4. About 7,000 athletes from more than 180 countries competed.

Agenesis of the corpus callosum and Aspergers/Autism? | Autism Blog

You could be Aspie. My cousin is, and he is very knowledgeable about very specific things, and has considerable difficulty in social situations. You do have symptoms/traits that would be considered Aspie. However, I think you might be reading into it a little too closely:

You have a neurological condition. Many such conditions mimic Autism and the spectral conditions, but that’s not enough. It could be that these traits would be considered off-shoots of your condition and not true Asperger’s. Anyway, you’re probably more read up on this than any of the people here…

…I don’t have neurological condition, but I was once thought to be Aspie because of my lack of eye contact, my marked social deficit on a bs IQ test I took, and my speech patterns. While I was ultimately considered bipolar, it was true that anxiety was causing these issues…. still, I think your question is more “could I be?” rather than “can I cure?” Duh, but you should talk to your neurologist.

Handbook of Clinical Child Neuropsychology

Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum, The Beast Within

The parallel brain, the cognitive neuroscience of the corpus callosum

Magnetic resonance in the diagnosis of C.N.S. disorders

Pediatric Neuro-Ophthalmology