Cri du Chat:- Taylah

I am finally writing to you all to tell you a bit about Taylah. She is now 6 years and 4 months old and doing really well, better than I ever expected. Taylah was only 7 weeks old when I found out that she had the Cri Du Chat Syndrome and was told that she would never be able to walk, talk or be able to do any thing for herself.
She started to walk at the age of about two and she could say mama and dada in babble at around 18 months old. She was toilet trained at two and she is pretty good at it although she still has a few slip ups. It only really happens when she gets too excited or she is too busy playing and she forgets to go.

Her language is still mainly one or two words but she will sit there and tell you a story that will go on for about 5 minutes although you can only understand a few words. Her language is getting better everyday.

Taylah on her trampoline

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When she was younger she attended childcare 3 full days week. When she turned 4 she went to a special pre-school and stayed there for 12 months. She now goes to a normal school with a special unit attached. She is in grade one and has got heaps of friends - everybody loves her. I remember one day she got home from school and I was going through her bag and I found a party invitation from one of the kids in her normal year one class. I couldn’t believe it. I read it and I had tears in my eyes. It made me feel so happy.

Taylah 6 years (August 2000) at the
Cri Du Chat Support Group of Australia family
meeting at Currumbin, QLD.

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Taylah loves to go down to the beach to swim, she loves the water. She loves having a bath because she seems to think that the bathtub is a pool and by the time it is time to get out most of the water is on the floor. She has started to want to make her own weet-bix and sandwiches.

Taylah with her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

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Taylah is such a happy kid, she only ever cries when she has hurt herself really badly but in general is pretty good. At the moment I am fighting the Transport Dept Because I live 5 kms too far from the school to get a taxi to pick her up and take her to school and then bring her home. At the moment it takes me 2 hours a day to take her to school and pick her up.
We had our picture and story in the newspaper a few times a couple of weeks ago now and she loved that. It didn’t seem to do much though and I am now looking for a house to move into that is that little bit closer.

Well now that I have finally told you a little bit about Taylah It will make me feel a bit better because I have been promising Margarette for so long now so here it is.

Email Taylah's mother Kimberley

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