Our November warrior Esmé

Esmé’s story has been written by her mum Carly. After a perfectly healthy pregnancy my little warrior Esmé was born via planned c-section on 17th December 2020. As soon as she was born she was very jittery and twitchy. I remember the nurses having to swaddle her hands to her sides to keep her still. […]

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A massive thank you to our fabulous fundraisers!

UKIST would like to say an enormous and heartfelt thank you to Steph Smith and her amazing team of fundraisers, who have raised over £10,000 by walking a marathon distance and holding a ‘rock of the pops’ gig in honour of Steph’s son, Presley. Steph said “At the age of 7 weeks old Presley started […]

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Our October warrior – Leo

Leo’s story has been written by his mum, Justyna. The day we found out I was pregnant with Leo was one of the happiest days of our lives. My pregnancy was normal. I gave birth at term in April 2023 to a healthy and strong baby boy who brought so much joy to our lives […]

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UKIST gives research grant to the BEE study

Infantile spasms are associated with a higher likelihood of neurodevelopmental conditions like autism, ADHD, language disorders and intellectual disability. A better understanding of the impact of and effective interventions for developmental difficulties in early-onset epilepsy is a research priority identified by patients, carers, policymakers and healthcare professionals. Cognitive and behavioural difficulties result in many children […]

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Our September warrior – a ray of ‘son’shine

Our Ray of SonShine, Our Baby H When my little miracle baby was 6 months old, he began showing some strange movements, and without going into the triggering details, my precious boy was diagnosed with Infantile Spasms. ‘Rare’ condition, they said. ‘Development Delays’ ‘Autism’ ‘Front line meds, steriods, seizures’ All the words, I have never […]

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Our August warrior Luca

Luca’s story is written by his mum Leah Luca was born in January 2023 a day before his due date. I had a straightforward pregnancy & a peaceful home birth with no complications. Luca was developing well and reaching the usual milestones on time up until around 5 months of age. For a few weeks […]

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Our July warrior Betsy – three and thriving!

Our July warrior’s story is written by her mum, Sally Betsy was born by Caesarian section, I had a normal pregnancy with no complications and have three other children who were over the moon to be big brothers. Everything was going well, she was hitting milestones and developing as she should. Around Christmas time we […]

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Our June warrior Sariyah – defying the odds

Sariyah Jai is our Warrior Princess. She is beautiful, smart and has the most infectious smile that lights up any room. She cheeky, has a mischievous side and gives the best kisses ever. We recently celebrated her 6th Birthday with a garden party that she was able to enjoy with her family and friends. We […]

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Our May warrior Millie

Millie was born 9th September 2021, around Christmas/January time we noticed that she wasn’t using her right arm half as much as her left. After numerous doctor visits we were referred to a paediatrician. However, in March I noticed she was doing some unusual movements, a bit like she was being made to jump and […]

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Outnumbered and The Realisation

Many of our members really related to the poem ‘Outnumbered’ by Becky Hemsley (shared here with her permission) which speaks about the experience of having a child with special needs and being made to feel they don’t measure up. More Becky Hemsley poetry The second poem was written by a member of our support group […]

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