(Posted January 14, 2021)

Meet Jordan from Toronto, Canada!   Jordan was diagnosed with the 22q11.2 Deletion at the age of 5 via a fish test and is now a 21-year-old published writer! He says his childhood was good even though he had some challenges to face like anxiety and social anxiety. “It was hard for me to make friends and there were a lot of kids that were mean to me,” he shared, but Jordan has found ways to cope.

As a child, he loved to ride his bike and play outside, but his hobby was writing. “I would color and write and spend time with my cat when I was growing up.” Some of the strategies that he found helped him the most were writing; coloring, and listening to my music, all of these continue to help him today. He is also very careful to eat properly and watch his weight.

Jordan was delayed by 3 years in speech and fine motor skills. “I couldn’t pronounce words with r in them,” said Jordan. His schooling was challenging. He was in locally developed classes and had an IEP, but was pulled from math and language classes and has a learning disability, although he was glad to have the help and support that he needed. He graduated high school and today is interested in writing and photography and currently working on a writing career that has already started to take root. At the age of 18, he wrote and published a book, “22q Through My Eyes,” and has appeared on TV to promote it. “I love to write because it lets me express my feelings no matter what emotion it is,” Jordan said.

Some of the goals Jordan has for his life include writing, photography, and later in life adopting a child. Jordan’s best advice to others with 22q is, “Always stand up for yourself, and believe in yourself.”

He continues to work on growing his writing career because as he says, “If I’m happy or sad, I can just write out my feelings.”

For more information on his book visit here , a genetic counselor website.