Claire’s Legacy: Inspiring Hope in the Face of the Unknown
After a healthy pregnancy and easy delivery, our first daughter and second child, Claire, was born on November 4, 2023 at 8:49 AM. Everything seemed fine. She had her first evaluation by the neonatologist and breastfed 6 times between her birth and 3:00 PM. Around 4:00 PM, our mother baby nurse just came into our […]
April 11, 2017
My sibling has special needs: a Q&A
Introduction Emily Glanton, a genetic counselor and project manager at the UDN Coordinating Center at Harvard Medical School, recently sat down with 10-year-old Aleah Smith and her father Chad to talk about Aleah’s experiences as a sibling of someone with special needs. Aleah’s little brother, Blake, is 7 years old and is undiagnosed. Q&A Q. […]
November 28, 2016
Finding the New Normal
My name is Chad Smith, also known as “Chad the Dad.” My wife, Becky, and I are the proud parents of two wonderful children, Aleah who is eight years old, and Blake, who is five years old. Blake has a long list of medical challenges, which continue to plague his life. Throughout the past five […]
October 1, 2015
Shining Light on My Sister’s Journey to Diagnosis
Many rare diseases, such as relapsing polychondritis , spinal muscular atrophy , opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome , and sarcoidosis , are often difficult to diagnose. In many cases, patients like my sister, Carolyn, are undiagnosed for many years with no answers. Here is her journey to diagnosis and my motivation to raise money for the UDN Patient Assistance Fund. Fall of 1983 – Spring of […]