"Dream Mom" named Blog of the Week at Genetics and Health

In case you missed it, Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei of Genetics and Health , named Dream Mom, blog of the week. Her blog is focused on helping you take advantage of the genomic revolution.

In the post, “About Dear Son”, I describe Dear Son’s diagnosis, and more importantly, the Aristaless gene, or ARX for short, that was responsible for his disabilities. Dear Son, was the first person in the world, to be diagnosed with one of the three patterns of the gene. I talk about how it was diagnosed, and include links to the geneticist, testing labs, and the original paper that was published in published in the November, 2002 issue of Nature Genetics. I hope this post raises the awareness for medical professionals, particularly pediatricians and neonatalogists, since they are at the front end of process, about the Aristaless gene or ARX as it is known. My post also defines the types of children, that should be tested for the gene.

I can’t begin to express my gratitude for this. I wrote the post, “About Dear Son” to illustrate how important it is to the parents, to finally know what caused their child’s disabilities. We live in a world where people are quick to take credit for all of the brilliant things that their child does and when a child is born with severe disabilities, you can’t help but take it personally, even if you did nothing to contribute to them. As a parent, your life is forever changed by this child and yet, your love for them knows no boundaries. I know first hand what a huge burden was lifted off my shoulders, when I found out what caused my son’s disabilities, and also when I found out it occurred at random, which is not always the case. I hope you will share this link with whomever you think would benefit.

Thank you, Dr. Hsien Lei, for all that you do.