“Brayden has never met a stranger and is loved by everyone. His great sense of humor, baby blue eyes and his contagious smile always melt your heart.”

A Message from Brayden’s Family:

Brayden has never met a stranger and is loved by everyone. His great sense of humor, baby blue eyes and his contagious smile always melt your heart. Brayden turned 12 in March, 2022. He loves his younger brother and his family. He is a collector of all little things. He loves semi-trucks and the interstate, bugs, caterpillars and worms [yuck!], WWE wrestling, shooting basketball, playing on his iPad, putting puzzles together, swimming, and being outdoors. He doesn’t play football, but he can punt a football further than any kid I know. Brayden continues to struggle with his school work, and now has a one-to-one aide to help him in the classroom. He continues with PT/OT and speech therapy in and out of school, and his social skills have improved tremendously.

Brayden was diagnosed with Combined ADHD at 4 ½ years old, with Autism in October 2016, at age 6 1/2, and we found out in July 2017 that he has a single gene mutation, KIF1A gene disorder. Since our last update on the KIF1A website in 2018, Brayden has also been diagnosed with an Intellectual Disability. I continue to worry about his inability to perform tasks of typical children his age, but he will be working on a lot of life skills in school and in therapy moving forward. His future is bright and following many trials and errors, years of various therapies, he will become whatever he wants to in life; not what I want him to be. Until then, we will continue to celebrate the small steps and milestones. At the end of the day, he goes to bed with a smile and that’s a sense of accomplishment for me.

Since B’s diagnosis of KIF1A, I’ve met some amazing families fighting similar battles. I will continue to raise awareness and organize fundraisers to help aide in the research process. I pray that one day Brayden’s journey will inspire others and ultimately find a cure for this genetic disorder.

After all, this boy is our Superhero! To follow Brayden’s story, please visit Brayden’s Journey: Weathering the Storm.

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