Family Hopes to Win $250,000 Contest to Fight Rare Children's Disorder

LIVONIA, Mich., June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- There is no cure for the disorder affecting 4 year old Matthew, but today he has a new hope to find a cure for Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood by winning a $250,000 grant in the Vivint Gives Back online contest.

The rare children's disease, Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood (AHC), is a permanent, painful neurological disorder that causes attacks of temporary paralysis that can last minutes or days. AHC is often misdiagnosed as cerebral palsy or epilepsy and has no cure. According to Jeff Wuchich, President of AHCF and father to Matthew, "It is estimated that over 90% of kids with AHC are undiagnosed which means that thousands of children are receiving the wrong care or none at all."

For AHC kids, life will never be easy. The disease impairs their ability to learn, giving them limited communication skills and also affects muscle control, causing shallow breathing, difficulty walking and swallowing. "We have made impressive inroads in research and have begun the full genome sequencing project that promises to get at the root cause of AHC," says Wuchich. "Getting to the cure will still take massive amounts of funding."

The 2011 Vivint Gives Back Project is an online charitable campaign that could generate up to $1.25 million for non-profits in the United States and Canada. Winning the grant is crucial to help fund research to find ways for immediate help with aspects of AHC such as the learning disability, fine motor skill development and behavior struggles that may be treatable now for the hundreds of children suffering from AHC. "We'll need all of the help we can get in order to win this grant," adds Wuchich.

You can help by voting daily via Facebook through 8/27/11. Donations are encouraged, with Vivint matching funds dollar-for-dollar up to $50 per donor and $2,500 per charity on select days.

The AHC Foundation was formed in 1995 in order to raise funds for genetic research to find the cause and a cure for AHC. Information: Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood, visit the AHCF website, AHC Kids Facebook Page, @AHCKids on Twitter.

http://www.ahckids.org/

SOURCE Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood Foundation