This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
STRAY CHILDREN
In a recent professional trip to Central America I saw them again. I had noticed stray children before in a relatively affluent country of South America. They were roaming the street and stealing food from plates of startled sidewalk café customers. There was no way you could have stopped them or chased them. This time it was different. I was waiting for a taxicab in front of a luxury hotel when they approached me. They were dirty, unkempt, and barefoot. As they came closer, I could see the scars on their faces, the parted eyebrows, the torn clothes, the dirty feet. There was an eerie image of wildness in their broken teeth, the long, dark nails, and the sores on their hands. Their hair was black, short, and sticking out unevenly. Their eyes were darting from side to side as if expecting danger. They were small and agile, running fast, never in a straight line. By now they had surrounded me, begging with their hands out, but I stood my ground, embarrassed to think that I had to escape from threatening children. Fortunately, a concierge came out, shouted a few words and they stopped, responding with a few unintelligible grunts before changing their pace. Obviously they had approached foreigners before and were familiar with the procedure. The uniformed concierge was an authority figure, not to be upset too much since he was present by the door every day and perhaps fed them a few morsels once in a while. They turned around and vanished as fast as they appeared.
Clearly these are not normal children. But, if abnormal, what is the disorder? A neurologic or a psychiatric alteration? Perhaps neither. My intuition is to define it as a psychosocial disease secondary to a …
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
