How to explain 1p36 Deletion Syndrome to a 3rd Grader

If you were asked how you would describe 1p36 Deletion Syndrome to a 3rd grader, what would you say? This was a question that came up recently on the 1p36 Facebook Family Support page and Christina F. who is the mom to Mollie put best. She explained it like this:

Photo Courtesy of Sidney Morgan PhotographyMollie has a 10 year old sister and the way I explained it to her was that we all have something called DNA. DNA is sort of an instruction manual that tells our body what to do. It tells our heart to be a heart, our ears to hear, our eyes to see etc. But Mollie is missing a few pages from her instruction manual so her body does not always know what to do because it is missing the instructions. I Told her that even if she was missing the directions (instruction manual) for a toy, that didn't mean the toy was worth less. It just means it could take you longer to figure out how to use it and some things you may never figure out without the instructions. The toy would still be a fun toy and just as special as the other toys... it was just missing a few pages from the directions.

So next time you happen to be asked by a young child (or even an adult) about 1p36 Deletion Syndrome you might think about Christina's example. The more our society can understand 1p36 Deletion Syndrome the easier it is to accept and embrace 1p36 Deletion Syndrome and all special needs.