SMS Awareness Day

Many of you may not know this..... but it's s-m-s awareness day!

Something we here at w-k-t-v know a little something about.... because of our weekend anchor.

Her sister has s-m- s.

Newschannel 2's callihan marshall joins us in the studio.

Good morning katrina!

I'm sure many of you may know this girl!

This is briahna, my sister.

She has smith magenis syndrome!

She's known for her bubbly personality and always lighting up a room.

Her disorder is very rare and severealy underdiagnosed.

Here's a little bit more about bri and sms!

Nats of bri singing: "it's the most wonderful time of the year" everyday is wonderful for an smser!

Nats: "tube of toothpaste" you're probably noticing a lot of head rocking, and singing.

All part of smith magenis syndrome.

Prisms is a non profit organization based in the united states.

It stands for "parents and researchers interested in smith magenis syndrome".

They're an advocacy group for individuals affected by the disorder.

.

None .

None casey gorman- executive director, prisms "smith magenis syndrome is a rare genetic neurobehavioral disorder that's estimated to affect 1 in 15,000 to 25,000 births.

It's caused by a deletion or change in the 17 p 11.2 chromosome which is why we celebrate sms awareness day on november 17."

How do you test for it?

"clinical blood tests.

One is the cytogenetic tests or cgh.

The other is called fish.

Other thorough tests can also be used amd those are becoming more common for the general public.

Throughout the past several years gorman says more and more individuals are being diagnosed at younger ages.

Which is very important for development.

Many struggle with weight gain, sleep, and speech, which can improve if it's addressed early.

(nats of bri) fun and loving are just a couple words to describe someone with sms "a lot of individuals with smith magenis syndrome are very attention seeiking, they want your attention, especially professionals they love professional people so if they're in the doctor's office they want to doctor to be paying attention to them no their parents.

They also give great hugs, something we build a campaign around so a lot of our members call us the hug or be hugged community."

I can attest to the hugging!

Bris is the best!

But just like any other person, "bri has some not so great moments" "a lot of self injurious behaviors for individuals so they'll pick their skin, some will pull out their finger nails and toe nails and then it all goes along with all that attention seeking.

They can throw tantrums and have outbursts."

(nats of bri again) but most of the time they're pretty awesome.

I'm so lucky to have such a beautiful person for a sister.

She's the reason why i'm so caring, empathetic, and loving.

The reason why i am who i am today.

So bri, if you're watching this, thank you!

You are my greatest gift.

I love you "big sissy for more information, head to our website w-k-t-v dot com.

I have the link to the prisms website posted, so you can learn more about smith magenis syndrome.

In the studio, callihan marshall newschannel 2, katrina.>