International Union of Angelic Anarchists Local 2. 
Mairead Roisin Hickey (aka Maggie Rose) came into a chaotic world. At the time of her birth, the entire Northeast region of the US and Canada were in the midst of a blackout. We thought it was an odd coincidence, a good story to share with Maggie when she got older. Little did we know that our little angelic anarchist timed her birth for the most dramatic effect. (We had to flag down a police escort to get through the traffic that was at a standstill because of the blackout.) Here she is at six weeks old, laughing as we recount the birth story to friends in Seattle, Washington.
Learning that Maggie has Angelman has been profoundly sad for us. At the same time, one simply can not be around Maggie and be sad. As a friend of mine related his experiences to me of parentling a child with special needs, the spectrum of feelings is more intense, with higher peaks of happiness and lower valleys of despair. We did not know that we had signed for this particular rollar coaster in our lives, but we could not ask for a better train driver than Maggie herself.
Our Diagnosis Story There is no easy way to learn that your child has a severe, lifelong disability. The process of discovery is different for each child. Some parents never learn the reason for developmental disabilities, and those must be the most difficult cases. Our story was a dramatic rollar-coaster for us, but typical in many ways for parents of Angels. |
Early Intervention Early Intervention has been great for Maggie and the whole family. The schedule is a bit crazy, Maggie has seven therapy sessions a week, but the results have been terrific. Maggie loves the intense, one-on-one attention, and we learn a lot about developal exercises. Maggie has a great team with an OT, PT, SLP and SEI. |
Politics and AS Our family has been politically active from the beginning. Erin and Rob met outside the jail in Seattle where Rob had been offered accomodations during the WTO protests. Fighting on behalf of Maggie is bringing a whole dimension to our commitment to social and economic justice. |
Medical Journal Articles Reading these articles has been hard for us for a number of reasons. Most importantly, they do not capture the spirit and lives of our children. At the same time, these articles provide a stark reality check of the challenges that we may face.. |
Order Angelman Bands Send us a note to order your Angelman Bands.
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Northeast ASF Fundraiser We piled into the wagon and headed to Boston for our first ASF event. There were loads of families and Angels there. We hope to see our new friends again soon. Since it was a fundraiser, Maggie grabbed the envelope with all the cash. Rather than heading to Mexico, she dumped the money on the floor and chewed on the envelope. |
