Mary Evelyn | Wake County 100

Narrative, Continued:

Mary Evelyn’s family is grateful to Wake County for her four different therapists. Mary Evelyn has an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, a speech therapist, and a special education teacher – Mary Evelyn loves her therapists! She is learning baby sign language with her speech therapist because it is easier for all babies to learn to sign before they learn to talk. She likes to sign. Especially “play” when its time for her to go to bed!

Written by: Moira

Mary Evelyn

Gender: Female

Age: <5

Race: White

Nativity: Born in NC

Educational Attainment: <25 No Data Collected

Grade Level in School: Home with Mom

Travel Time to School: N/A

Internet Access in Home: Yes

Religion: Catholic

Town: Garner

Narrative:

Mary Evelyn was born with a head full of red hair and an extra chromosome #21, which means that she has Down’s Syndrome. Down’s Syndrome is a genetic disorder that creates developmental and learning difficulties, and 50% of the time babies have a heart defect. At seven months of age, Mary Evelyn had surgery because her heart valves were not formed correctly. The blood would go around, but then sometimes it would go backwards. Before her surgery, Mary Evelyn had to work extra hard to do every day things: it would take so much energy for her to drink her bottle that she would lose more calories trying to drink than she could gain from the actual formula. Now, Mary Evelyn is fully recovered and her heart is functioning like any typical heart. She can now stand up and walk if you hold her hand. When Mary Evelyn learns to walk she will get into more stuff than she does now! She loves to pull books off of shelves and to tip over potted plants.

The Doon School