Name | Maria Tabacchi |
---|---|
Born | Aug 1987 |
Gender | Female |
Diagnosis | 10q (q24.3-26.3) |
Parents | John and Mufi Tabacchi |
City | Oakmount, PA, USA |
mufitab [at] verizon [dot] net |


February 21, 2007
The medications she is on are risperdal for behavior problems, lexapro for obsessive- compulsive disorder and enalapril for hypertension.
She is doing well with these medications and currently and other than her OCD, has no significant behavior problems.
Blood was taken by both parents to compare against Maria’s to look for any specific genetic markers on that part of chromosome 10. Nothing abnormal was found with her parents.
Presently she attends a special needs private school, which we love. Maria began attending The Children’s Institute when she was 3 years old. She will be there until she is 21. She goes to a workshop 2 times a week, which is preparing her for the work environment soon.
Maria loves computers and watching home videos. She has an excellent memory and remembers what car people drove from 10 years ago including the color of their seatbelts. She is not a social butterfly and prefers spending time alone. She also prefers adults to people her own age. If you give her a calculator she can do math problems. She has difficulty spelling, and is on a 2nd grade level. She can read chapter books. Swimming is an outlet for her. She can cook simple dishes like macaroni and cheese, heats leftovers up in the microwave and helps clean up around the house.
She has a younger sister, Heather (13), and an older brother John. (23). We love Maria very much and couldn’t imagine life without her. Her laugh and sense of humor are contagious.
Maria is now working at a new Vocational Rehabilitation Center, because she said she didn't like the previous one she was at. The pay was a lot better at the former and she gets discouraged with that. She bags nails for Lowes, Home Depot, etc., puts price tags on sunglasses and folds towels. Her pace is picking up and they are trying to prepare her for a job in the community, but her severe scoliosis is probably going to prohibit her from this. The doctor doesn't want to do another surgery due to her restrictive lung disease and her pulmonary issues. Otherwise she has been quite healthy. We made it through the past winter with only minor colds. All her doctors: nephrologist (blood pressure doctor), orthopedic surgeon, pulmonologist. Psychiatrist, audiologist, opthomologist, and podiatrist have all given her the thumbs up at the six month checkup.
Maria remains strong-willed but has become much more social considering her autism spectrum disorder. She initiates conversations and speaks to strangers. We are trying to help her to fine tune her topics other than the OCD ones she uses.
Maria remains tiny in stature around 4'8" and weighs in at 99-101 pounds. She uses the Wii Fit regularly and tries to stay in shape. She does pig out occasionally but then asks if she should be eating more salads and vegetables which she already knows the answer to. She just wants to hear us say it. She tells us she loves us often and really tries hard to work on her behaviors, but thank God for Risperdal and Celexa and she takes Enalapril for her hypertension.
Well that's all for now. I'll keep you posted in another couple of years. Good luck and God bless to all.