Already as a baby, Annabel’s son
Ted was diagnosed with XYY syndrome.(Image 1) Affecting only 1 in 1000 males in the
world this very rare chromosomal disorder left Ted emotionally immature and
much taller than usual. Despite the fact that this syndrome left a huge mark
not only on the young Ted but his mother, they were able to live a normal life
as much as they could.
Image 1 Ted on the left, Annabel his mother on the right
For
Annabel, Ted was her second child. Not soon after he was born, Annabel’s
husband left her. When Ted was born, doctors knew that Ted would have some sort
of deformations. “It’s all right, it’s only XYY syndrome.” This was how experts told Annabel that her
child, for the next 10-20 years, will have to emotionally suffer. What exactly
is the XYY syndrome? (Image 2) Normally, babies are born with 46 chromosomes, the
remaining two determining the gender. Infrequently, a baby will be born have 47
chromosomes. If that extra chromosome is a Y, the baby boy will be born with a
XYY syndrome. This chromosomal change usually occurs during the formation of
sperm cells; the error in cell division is called non-disjunction and can
therefore cause an extra Y chromosome.
Apart from being abnormally tall, 6ft 3in (average) while a normal male is 5ft
10in, males with XYY syndrome also have trouble communicating, fitting in and
learning. Ted has trouble with all this. He mostly has trouble with motor skills;
the ability to move and talk. To read more, in detail about XYY Syndrome go here
IMAGE 2 1 extra chromosome
Another diagnose made on Ted was dyspraxia. This neurotically
problem usually occurs when cells do not develop in the proper way. Therefore they
create emotional, physical and intellectual problems. Ted was a healthy baby,
weighing 7lb. Despite the fact he was diagnosed with XYY syndrome, doctors told
Annabel that just like any other diagnosed person, Ted will be able to live a
perfectly normal life. Throughout his childhood, Ted’s physical development was
very slow. He wasn’t able to walk until he was 17 months and all until the age
of 3 not a single sentence was said. Another thing Annabel noticed with her son
was that whenever something went wrong, Ted would give up. He would often
withdraw whenever he didn’t like what was happening. Annabel was forced to give
up her job in order to be with Ted, but Ted never appreciated this. It wasn’t
because he hated her or because he didn’t care. It was because of his condition
which didn’t allow Ted to function properly. Ted never knew how to react with
kids his age. Instead of saying hello to them, his way of greeting them was different.
Most of the time he would hit other kids, knocking them out. Once he even
pushed a girl so hard that her teeth went through her lip. The more Ted got
frustrated the more that affected his mother. While kids are the ones going
through all the pain, parents also have much to deal with too. Annabel is a
great example of this. “And I hated me, too. I was drinking more than I meant to, I
was obsessed with finding a man to rescue me, I spent most of the day shouting.”
Eventually Annabel’s desperation stopped. As soon as it stopped, Ted’s behavior
improved. After changing schools for three times, Ted was able to find a
perfect school for him, not too big and not too small. In St. Aubyns School,
everyone worked closely with Ted. They try their best to amuse Ted in all sorts
of ways possible. Just like any other kid who was diagnosed with XYY syndrome,
Ted was slowly able to overcome it. Many of the diagnosed males end up
finishing a university and living a normal life afterwards. Experts tend to say
that their IQ can be slightly lower than their siblings but that they can be
fairly good in mathematics. Today, Ted is living a much more calm life. He fits
in much better with his peers; communicating more and being more open-minded.
Despite the
fact that XYY Syndrome affects young kids emotionally and physically, just like
everything else in life, it is possible to overcome it. The ones diagnosed with
XYY Syndrome, only 1 in 1000, have lots of trouble fitting in during their
childhood but later in life usually end up having a completely normal life just
like any other healthy person. Young Ted, son of Annabel Giles, is such a great
example of a fighter. As such a young boy he was able to put aside his disease
and find a way to live his life in the most powerful and normal way possible.
Bibliography:
Enjoyed how you first paced out your paragraph by intriguing us with a story first and then explaining the science behind it.
ReplyDeleteJovana, I really liked your blog post because of various reasons. I especially liked the formation and how you made a good transition from the article to the facts about the syndrome. I also really liked how you used direct quotes from the article. Your blog post is accurate and it was very interesting to learn about the XYY syndrome. One thing that I think you could have improved is to reference your images better
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your article and I like how you captured the readers attention. Also I thought you did really well in discussing the story and then the disorder as well. Overall I thought you did a really god job.
ReplyDeleteI think you wrote a really good blog post. You talked about both the news story and the facts about the syndrome and had really good transitions. I like that you included pictures, and hyperlinks for the news story. great job!!
ReplyDeleteGood usage of scientific terms! You included many things such as hyperlinks, pictures which are labeled, and background information which was at the same time very well explained. The only thing I think shouldn't be here is the text which is bold and very hard to read. The rest looks great! Good job!
ReplyDelete