What is AS

Angelman Syndrome

What is Angelman syndrome

The Mayo Clinic identifies Angelman syndrome (AS) as a genetic disorder that causes developmental disabilities, neurological problems and sometimes, seizures. It goes on to say that people with Angelman syndrome often smile and laugh frequently, and have happy, excitable personalities, but that it also causes developmental delays, between about 6 and 12 months of age, are usually the first signs of Angelman syndrome. Seizures often begin between the ages of 2 and 3 years old.
Wikipedia says “Angelman syndrome is a genetic disorder which mainly affects the nervous system.”

Those are just two, of the hundreds, of medical/technical descriptions about Angelman syndrome that you can find out on the web. Although, they are correct they miss the most important thing and that is how AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL individuals with Angelman syndrome are.

I’m sure many have heard the saying: “it takes a special person to raise a child with special needs.” Well that is incorrect for Matthew has proved to us that “a child with special needs inspires you to be a special person.“

Matthew has changed our entire view on life. In a world where people tend to perceive what someone is like based off of looks, financial status, and/or performance it is only natural to start viewing yourself and others through that same lens. However, having a beautifully sweet and innocent child born with a disability that he didn’t ask for and watching him work so hard to try and perform basic functions such as: standing, walking, trying to talk, etc., quickly broke that lens and now we see life the way it was meant to be seen. As another special needs parent wrote so eloquently:

“You don’t know the depths of victory and joy until you see your child with special needs overcoming basic challenges.”

For us, it’s been the simplest things, like the way Matthews eyes light up when he is excited about something, the way he applauds himself when he does something good, the way he says “Thank you” with sign language and a “smack” that he adds all by himself. 🙂 Our favorite would be how he can stay on beat with any song and then sings along with them. No! He can’t actually say any words but he sure does his best to hum along.

We hope that you continue to follow our journey as we take Matthew to visit other children with Angelman syndrome and do all we can to raise awareness.