Mitchell is our son with Kabuki. Fortunately, for all of us, he is blessed with a very happy personality. He gets along with most everyone and is a loving, caring person. Because of this, we have often joked that he should have a take-off of a popular TV show called “Everyone Loves Mitchell”. He does occasionally have his “meltdown” moments though.
Mitchell just turned 13. He is globally delayed in growth & mental ability. A brief list of other attributes includes hypotonia, hearing loss, immune deficiencies, ASD (repaired), sub-mucous cleft palate, scoliosis, and the typical facial features. Most of the time Mitchell is not bothered by what he can’t do. He’s pretty content with what he can do. However, this sometimes changes when he plays with his, 9-˝ year old, brother Jake. In contrast, Jake is above average in academics and athletics who can play most sports very well. He has also already bypassed Mitchell in height. Consequently, there are occasions when Mitchell asks why he can’t do all the things that Jake can do knowing that he is the “older” brother. Thankfully this is infrequent.
Jake has the most difficulty with Kabuki. He is very active and often is angry that he doesn’t have a “normal” brother that can throw, hit, catch, etc. to the “ability” of other boys. Jake’s perspective is made worse by his Tourette Syndrome (tics, ODD, ADHD, mood disorder, etc.). In fact, even though Jake is above average in height and intelligence, he also has the finger and toe “pads” and it has been suggested he may have a “mild” form of Kabuki. We have been asked many times if they are twins. In addition, Jake’s social conscience is virtually non-existent. Consequently, due to his own “disability” (which he doesn’t necessarily recognize) he does not sympathize with his brother’s challenges. Instead, Jake is frustrated by them. As a result, Mitchell views his brother as “not nice” when, in fact, Jake has his own challenges. The situation means that we never leave them alone. They need to be constantly supervised and/or separated.
We haven’t given up on them getting along though and utilize the services of a psychologist to work with them, and us.
Mitchell participates in many activities and is in Special Olympics year-round.
It’s a busy life between their ongoing doctor appointments, sports activities, and school IEP meetings, etc. but God provides us with many blessings for which we are thankful … including Mitchell and Jake.