15q11.2

That is the name of David's chromosomal disorder. What it means is that a very, very, very tiny duplication was made on the top of David's 15th chromosome. The impact of this duplication ranges from nothing at all to complex developmental disabilities......David is one of the Bloom boys, which basically means he does nothing half way....he has decided to go full force and make sure that he takes full advantage of any and all implications that this duplication can have on his body.

This duplication is known to cause autism like developmental delays, seizures, speech delays and motor delays. Apparently all of the doctors who have seen David who have tried to put their finger on what exactly is the reason for david's delays have all been correct- he has symptoms that appear like autism spectrum disorders but cannot be completely defined as autism spectrum disorder. He has always had speech delays and motor delays, and well the seizures, they have definitely had an impact on him in the past and even though they are now well controlled, they are still occurring infrequently.

What does this mean in the long run for David? Likely that he will continue on his developmental path in life. He will learn, but his learning will be slower and will require a lot of intensive teaching.

he will require time to process information, and to learn new skills. He is medically no more fragile than he was in the past, and thankfully there are no other implications of this duplication than what we are already dealing with,so that is great news.

I am thankful to have an answer to the What question for David, I am trying to make peace with the "why" question....why did this happen? Why did it happen to David? And I am moving forward.....baby steps, but I have stopped obsessing about the name and researching it online...and that has led to me feeling more peace.