Written by Campbell Alexander
Ryan, now 25, was diagnosed with Fragile X Syndrome in 1997, after 2 long years trailing around doctors and specialists looking for a diagnosis rather than a collective name.
Eventually a young doctor decided to give Ryan and ourselves a blood test, and finally we had a diagnosis. Ryan also has a brother Jason who is not affected. They get on really well, and Jason is very supportive at all times. After Ryan's diagnosis, we did some research and contacted the Society for some advice and literature on the subject.
Primary school was good for Ryan. He did really well with the one to one help he got, as well as the information the Society gave us, which we gave to the school to help Ryan with his learning, but also help the school to understand his condition - of which they had never heard of.
Secondary school was a different story. We had to fight really hard to keep him in main stream education as the establishment wanted to send him elsewhere. We won the day and he went on to excel at school with the support of the Learning support base and some great teachers. He became a Prefect, of which he was very proud, and stayed in secondary school till he was 18 when he left - but not before picking up the Trophy for The Best Pupil in the Learning Support Base. That was a proud moment for us as parents, and just proved that parents know best when it comes to your child, and we were right to fight for his place.
Ryan is now at college and has been for 5 years. He has gained many qualifications along the way. He does three days a week and loves every minute of it.
Ryan makes us proud every day. He tries really hard and excels in everything he does. He can be a bit trying at times, but who isnt?
He wanted to do something for charity, so what better than the Fragile X Society. We decided to climb a mountain, so it had to be the biggest one... Ben Nevis!
After a few months planning and getting together with all his friends and mine we managed to get 22 crazy people up for the adventure.
We set of early on the 4th of June on a beautiful summers morning. Strange weather for Scotland, but we were very grateful as ahead of us was a daunting task.
The rest is history. What an acheivment for Ryan and myself, but so many people in our group achieved so much that day. With so many personal goals acheived it turned into a very emotional day for all concerned.
Well what can I say! We raised £3274.68 for The Fragile X Society -what an acheivment and what an amount.
I cant thank my friends enough for their commitment to Ryan and myself. We couldnt have done it without them, so thank you all again for a great weekend.
Time to nurse the wounds and muscle pain and maybe start planning the next adventure for RYANS ROWDY RAMBLERS!"
