My son, Ridge Damon, is fifteen years old. 

He is also mentally disabled.  He isn't like most kids his age.

He was born with a condition known as Fragile-X Syndrome.  Basically, this means he has a extra chromosome in his X chromosome; as a result, he has disabilities that hamper his ability to interact with other people, plus he has some accompanying physical features that are hallmarks of the syndrome.

For example, Ridge is extremely shy when meeting new people.  He always has been; it is very hard for him to make friends.  He's also nervous, agitated, and has some nervous habits (hand flapping, head shaking, limited eye contact with others, and has problems with remembering things when introduced to new situations).

Ridge is in special education classes; they are working with him to try to improve his behavior and socialization skills.  We don't know if it is really helping; however we are more than willing to do anything for our son, to make his life a little bit better, not to mention, easier.

Ridge has some unusual features that make him stand out from the crowd:  an elongated face.  Mental disabilities that make him seem much younger than what he truly is (mentally, he functions at about a five-to-six year old child).  Large, protruding ears.  Flat feet.  Low muscle tone.  Smooth skin.  Atypical socialization skills (shyness, limited eye contact, memory problems, etc.).

Sometimes Ridge will get frustrated when learning new things that he will go into a rage.  It is always very stressful for us (and for him) when this happens.  We try everything under our power to keep the routine familiar with him; we do try to introduce change; we just do it very slowly and over time.  We don't rush headlong into things; it would only lead to disaster.

One time, Ridge got so angry he trashed the house.  Took us three days to clean up the mess he made.  He has a volatile temper; it is not pleasant!

Besides the anger issues, Ridge also bites himself (hands mostly), or he rocks his body until he calms down. 

Ridge is the only one out of our children who has this syndrome.  Our other three children (daughters) are all unaffected, although we do have a niece who has this (fragile-X is rarer in girls than in boys; many more males are affected).  (She's eight.)  Before our son had been born with this disorder, we'd never heard of fragile-X.  What we learned was truly eye-opening.

Ridge will always need help with social skills, but with therapies or meds to help his behaviors, he should do fine.  He will be able to hold a job (in a sheltered workshop environment), and he will learn to socialize with others in time.  We just have to be patient is all.

Well, Ridge is calling (he is home sick; he has the swine flu), so I will see what he needs.  Until later, this is his mom, Carollyn, signing off!  Take care and God bless!  I hope you enjoyed learning about our son; he is certainly a handful, let me tell you!

~Sincerely, Carollyn Akers, mom to Ridge and our other three children (Wilmadene, Yasmine, and Yolande).  :)