Tara was diagnosed as autistic as a child. At 14 her parents took her to a doctor who gave her the Rett Syndrome diagnoses by simply ruling out all other disorders. Two years later, in 1999, Baylor’s DNA Diagnostics Laboratory developed the genetic test and the diagnoses was confirmed. She was not a happy child at all with lots of screaming and kicking. To help with her irritability, her parents decided to put her Risperdal and within three days Tara was a different person, very relaxed and calm.

Even with this ordeal of her childhood and teenage years, Tara has it better than many other Rett patients. She can walk with a limp; she can even feed herself when food is cut up in small pieces. She now lives in a host home and during the week she is attending a day program, where they work on her motor skills or do community activities. On weekends she is visiting her family.

Frustrated with the limited resources in the earlier years, Tara’s parents, the Dertinas have been instrumental in building the Rocky Mountain Rett Association to what it is today. They were also among the group that pushed to create a Rett Clinic here in Denver. For this, we all say, THANK YOU!