PRINTER'S NO. 1422
No. 181 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY PICCOLA, BOSCOLA, TARTAGLIONE, FERLO, PIPPY,
MUSTO, COSTA, FONTANA, STOUT, PILEGGI, WOZNIAK, ERICKSON,
FOLMER, GREENLEAF, ORIE, ARMSTRONG, C. WILLIAMS, O'PAKE,
KITCHEN, WONDERLING, DINNIMAN AND WASHINGTON,
SEPTEMBER 25, 2007
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, SEPTEMBER 25, 2007
A RESOLUTION
1 Designating October 2007 as "Rett Syndrome Awareness Month" in
2 Pennsylvania.
3 WHEREAS, Rett syndrome is a neurological disorder that occurs
4 almost exclusively in girls, in approximately one in every
5 12,500 births; and
6 WHEREAS, After an early period of apparently normal
7 development, a child with Rett syndrome loses or never develops
8 verbal communication skills and purposeful use of hands, may
9 have difficulty walking, breathing and eating and may suffer
10 seizures; and
11 WHEREAS, Rett syndrome is a fairly new disorder which was
12 first noted in Europe in the 1960s and discovered in the United
13 States in 1983; and
14 WHEREAS, In 1999, the cause of Rett syndrome was identified
15 as a defect in the MECP gene on the X chromosome; and
16 WHEREAS, Rett syndrome is undiagnosed or most often
1 misdiagnosed as autism, cerebral palsy or nonspecific
2 developmental delay, thus preventing many families from
3 utilizing disability assistance programs; and
4 WHEREAS, With accurate diagnosis of Rett syndrome, the impact
5 can be lessened by therapies designed to improve communication
6 skills and slow the progression of motor disturbances; and
7 WHEREAS, Rett syndrome research has recently produced a
8 promising breakthrough in which the symptoms of Rett syndrome
9 have been reversed in mice, giving hope that the same can be
10 done in humans someday soon; therefore be it
11 RESOLVED, That the Senate designate the month of October 2007
12 as "Rett Syndrome Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania.
I17L82MSP/20070S0181R1422 - 2 -