ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of Spina bifida, seven-year-old girl with lumbar myelomeningocele and shunted hydrocephalus was referred to a developmental evaluation centre due to difficulties in school. The cognitive and language development of children with spina bifida has some correlation to the level of the lesion and the development and treatment of hydroce phalus. A specific language syndrome called the 'cocktail party syndrome' has been described in persons with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. Physicians need to be alert to the possibility of subtle language dysfunction in children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. The high degree of fluency and well-developed syntax of these children can easily obscure receptive language difficulties and intellectual deficits. Lower IQ scores are associated with a history of brain infection, especially ventriculitis; to a somewhat lesser extent with hydrocephalus, particularly untreated or incompletely treated hydrocephalus; and to a still lesser extent with higher levels of the spinal lesion.
