KCAT CAN: Silent Angels

October is Rett Syndrome Awareness Month, Let us be aware, be informed & be inspired with ate Pam & Julia's heartwarming story.

Read:
Silent Angels

Here are some symptoms of Rett Syndrome:

• A girl with RTT is usually born healthy and shows a period of apparently normal or near normal development until 6-18 months.


• Intellectual development appears to be severely delayed, but true intelligence is difficult to measure.


• Her social development appears normal, and she may begin to use and understand language. Sometime between one and two years old, she experiences a regression of these skills.


• She loses the ability to pick up and hold things in her hands or to use her hands functionally


• She stops responding to the spoken word and stops using the few single words she has learned.


• When she is upset or scared, her body may tremble or shake.


• If she can walk, her legs are stiff and wide apart. She may walk on her toes. Other girls lose the ability to walk.


• Purposeful hand use is replaced by stereotypic hand movements such as hand clasping, clapping, hand-to-mouth movements or what has become the hallmark of Rett Syndrome, hand wringing.


• She may breathe differently, either holding her breath (apnea) or huffing and puffing (hyperventilation).


• Seizures and Scoliosis (curvature of the spine) are common