Elliot Eland is a 2-year-old boy who suffers from a rare neurological condition known as Angelman Syndrome which causes him to smile and laugh keeping him from ever learning to speak. The illness also contributes to learning difficulties and causes him to sleep only 4 hours a night due to his excitability.
The baby's family first learned about their son's condition when the child had problems feeding as an infant. Doctors say Angelman Syndrome is such a rare case that only 1,000 have been reported in the U.K.
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Elliot also has a 5-year-old brother, Alex, who has a hard time understanding his younger sibling's condition. Their mother, Gale, explains that there are times when Alex will cry, but Elliot's reaction is laughter, which confuses the older brother. How sad and difficult for these parents!
Gale recalls when she and her husband Craig learned that Elliot had Angelman Syndrome and says she sobbed knowing her son had to live with this rare disease. __Originally doctors told her she had nothing to worry about until they referred the family to a specialist who discovered the chromosome disorder through blood work.
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It's terrible to know that a child's laughter and smile can be associated with such a sad illness. The challenge for the parents must be in raising Elliot as a regular child even though he's going to realize he's different when he's older. As upsetting as it may be for this family to know that their son will never speak, at least there are options. According to Gale, the family has signed up for signing courses in order to communicate easier with Elliot.
The good thing is that the Elands try to see the upside of the situation and say that when they're feeling down, his laughter uplifts their spirits. I'd have to agree that turning a negative into a positive is the right outlook to have!
We hope little Elliot gets the treatment he needs and it becomes easier for his family to deal with his condition!
Image via The Grosny Group
