GRIN2B

I am a caregiver. I didn’t plan it and in fact I had no idea that I would become a caregiver — other than the usual care a mother gives her child. My care goes to a little boy named Brett. Many people believe, as I do, that every living being is in the world [...]

I’m a third-grade teacher. My students are typically 8, turning 9. This is my 13th year teaching, so I know 8-year-old kiddos pretty well. This fall, a very special girl is turning 8 — my daughter, Natalie. Natalie has GRIN2B related neurodevelopmental disorder, a rare genetic disease that has limited her ability to learn and [...]

Innocent questions from children. “Will she ever talk?” Always the same answer. “We don’t know. Maybe.” “Why is she upset? She has a swing and a trampoline.” “You’d be upset too if you weren’t able to talk and tell people what was bothering you.” “How can she know what talking is?” “She can hear everything [...]

Recently, the first virtual family meeting for parents of children with a GRIN2B variation was held. GRIN2B is not the name of a disease, disorder, or syndrome. It’s the name of a gene located on the 12th chromosome. There are so few people diagnosed with a genetic variation at this location that we don’t have [...]

A year ago was the first time my family celebrated Rare Disease Day, which occurs on the last day of February. We celebrated with a simple Facebook post announcing that our 18-month-old daughter had recently been diagnosed with a rare genetic mutation. At that point, I wasn’t even putting a name to what she had [...]