Blackpool, Lancs, England
Hello, my name is Judy, and in 1992, I gave birth to Katie, our lovely 8 year-old daughter.
I wasn't told about the fact that Katie had mds until the day before she was born. When Katie's father found out that she was mds, he decided he couldn't cope and left me to bring her up on her own. Fortunately, I have since re-married and Bill has adopted Katie.
I wasn't told about the fact that Katie had mds until the day before she was born. When Katie's father found out that she was mds, he decided he couldn't cope and left me to bring her up on her own. Fortunately, I have since re-married and Bill has adopted Katie.
Before Katie was born, I had fluid removed 3 times a week by a needle through into the womb. This was monitored on a scan tv because Katie had a duodenal atresia (2" blockage in her bowel). When she was born, Katie had to have an operation to remove the blockage. Without it, she would have certainly died and she now has a scar, the length of her tummy. I had shared a hospital ward with another woman who gave birth to triplets and I had been the same size! During Katie's early years, the only help given was from the local Special Needs Centre and from a Portage helper who came to the house once a week to help Katie with motor skills.
When Katie reached nursery age, we decided to let Katie go to private nursery as well as state nursery. The private nursery gave Katie the chance to show her how to communicate with other children as well as giving her a start in early years education. Katie loved going and learnt a lot about herself and others, and was treated the same as all the other children.
Katie stayed there until a week before she started mainstream school, where she has a one-to-one Special Support Assistant for 17 hours a week. An outreach teacher comes 1 afternoon a week to help Katie and the school to break down her work. This is called the Derbyshire Language Scheme. Katie's workload covers all the areas of the national curriculum and she is currently on level 9 reading and is above average at reading. She has all her school homework sent to her by e-mail because she loves to sit at the computer and type.
Katie is a happy child, very loving but can be very stubborn and defiant. Her level of mds is 50-50. She seems very clever and has an answer for everything ! She asks questions all the time and loves music (favourite bands are Steps, Backstreet Boys, S Club 7 and she also loves Ricky Martin and Robbie Williams). Katie is a Brownie and loves to go to MacDonalds. She likes ten-pin bowling and talking to her mds friends on the webcam.
She is still in pull ups at night but is very dry in the day. We find that immediate family (apart from the odd one or two) don't really know how to deal with the fact that Katie has mds. Perhaps because they are afraid or don't understand.
That being said, we wouldn't change her at all. She brings so much love to all who meet her. Feel free to get in touch, I'd love to hear from you.
When Katie reached nursery age, we decided to let Katie go to private nursery as well as state nursery. The private nursery gave Katie the chance to show her how to communicate with other children as well as giving her a start in early years education. Katie loved going and learnt a lot about herself and others, and was treated the same as all the other children.
Katie stayed there until a week before she started mainstream school, where she has a one-to-one Special Support Assistant for 17 hours a week. An outreach teacher comes 1 afternoon a week to help Katie and the school to break down her work. This is called the Derbyshire Language Scheme. Katie's workload covers all the areas of the national curriculum and she is currently on level 9 reading and is above average at reading. She has all her school homework sent to her by e-mail because she loves to sit at the computer and type.
Katie is a happy child, very loving but can be very stubborn and defiant. Her level of mds is 50-50. She seems very clever and has an answer for everything ! She asks questions all the time and loves music (favourite bands are Steps, Backstreet Boys, S Club 7 and she also loves Ricky Martin and Robbie Williams). Katie is a Brownie and loves to go to MacDonalds. She likes ten-pin bowling and talking to her mds friends on the webcam.
She is still in pull ups at night but is very dry in the day. We find that immediate family (apart from the odd one or two) don't really know how to deal with the fact that Katie has mds. Perhaps because they are afraid or don't understand.
That being said, we wouldn't change her at all. She brings so much love to all who meet her. Feel free to get in touch, I'd love to hear from you.
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