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THE RETT SYNDROME

                                      I gave birth to my daughter Hillary after a normal pregnancy. She seemed to be the picture of health, but the doctor discovered that she had a cleft palate. He said that this particular type of cleft in the soft palate is usually corrected easily by surgery when a child is about two years old. The only immediate problem was that she could not nurse properly. With part of her palate missing, she was not able to create the vacuum necessary for suction. For the first three months, Hillary had to be fed by hand. Then, in her fourth month, she somehow learned to suck her nostrils in and create a vacuum. This permitted her to nurse. What a relief? Soon Hillary began to gain weight, and everything appeared to be normal. She could use her hands to hold things. She also made baby sounds and learned to sit up.                                                   MYSTERIOUS SYMPTOMS DEVELOP When it was time for Hillary to start crawlin