Childhood Apraxia Syndrome (CAS) is a motor speech disorder that makes it difficult to say words, form syllables or even make sounds. This condition happens when the brain is having difficulty in telling the lips, jaws and tongue how to speak or make sounds.
Isabella Barney, a young three-and-a-half year old girl from New York was diagnosed with the disease when she was a baby. Thanks to an incredible new cord blood therapy, she is now starting to form words and talk to her brother!
She was only able to receive this new cord blood therapy thanks to her parent’s decision to store her umbilical cord blood. The stem cells found in cord blood can be used in a variety of treatments and there are many experimental treatments being developed by researchers.
After Isabella was diagnosed, the family performed some research on the disease. They found a trial being run by Duke University which used cord blood therapy. The family traveled to Duke University to have the procedure performed. The actual stem cell transplant took less than 10-minutes, followed by a couple of hours of Isabella receiving fluids.
Within a few weeks, Isabella had dramatically improved. She started saying her brother’s name and talking to the family. Researchers were very happy with Isabella’s quick improvement.
Isabella has gone from saying one or two words per day to speaking long sentences. She can perform simple tasks like counting to 10 and she is much happier now that she does not struggle when vocalising her thoughts.
Because Isabella’s family had privately banked her cord blood, it was immediately available to them when they needed it. Private cord blood banking gives families complete control over this important medical resource. Her story highlights how important storing cord blood can be.
Source: After Treatment with her Own Cord Blood, Toddler is Able to Speak
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