RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS), including the most common type - Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, are a group of genetic disorders that affect the connective tissues in the body, which affect more than one in 5,000 people, regardless of age, race, or gender: and
WHEREAS, Symptoms commonly include joint hypermobility and dislocation; fragile, hyperextensible skin that bruises and scars easily; and tissue fragility, severe cases can be associated with unpredictable tearing of blood vessels and organs, leading to internal bleeding and other potentially life-threatening complications; and
WHEREAS, For people with EDS, their ligaments and joints are so loose so unstable that the muscles work twice as hard as the general population to hold their bodies together, leading to severe exhaustion; and
WHEREAS, All of these symptoms - joint laxity, joint pain, and exhaustion - can make learning with EDS an arduous task, particularly for younger students, since the physical act of writing can be extremely painful and difficult, forcing students to choose between answering questions with the fewest possible words or having their thumb joints slip in and out of place; and
WHEREAS, Since EDS is a rare condition, those living with EDS have taken to identifying themselves as zebras, in reference to the common medical idiom "when you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras"; and
WHEREAS, Ole A. Thorp Elementary School has established new pilot program focused on educational equity to help ensure two third grade students with EDS receive the education they rightly deserve from our public school system; and
WHEREAS, "Dazzle at School" - named after the term for a group of zebras - provides direct service to students by incorporating structured literacy intervention, occupational therapy, and assistive technology such as speech-to-text, as well as support and capacity building to help parents, schools, and teachers deliver an inclusive learning experience for studen...
Click here for full text