An Article and Resources to Share with Parents

It doesn't happen all that often, since I teach high school aged students, but occasionally I will have a student with a mystery diagnosis. The parents have been told by doctors that they don't know what is wrong, that the diagnosis is a generic MR or PDD/Autism or that the students has an unspecified neurological or, mitochondrial disease or syndrome.

Last week The New York Times published an article about microanalysis of DNA in these situations and the hope and connection it can offer to families. The article also includes a list of resources, videos and MP3s.

This might be a good clipping to hang on a parent bulletin board or have ready for when this type of conversation comes up.