Junior High

The Transition to Junior High was a bit of an adjustment. I was in a class of 30 kids including myself in the 6th grade but the number went down over the years and in the 8th grade, I ended up graduating with 22 kids. Anyways, There were new rules to follow and the discipline system, and etc was all new and different to us at fist but once we got used to it, it was easy. 

My teachers were available to help me with school work when needed. I was able to come in before school, during recess and even after school to get help. Since, I went to a catholic school there was no special services but the help from the teachers was just great for me. 

In Junior High, I was pretty into sports. I did soccer in the fall and spring all 3 years as well as basketball just in the 6th grade and realized I didn't like it anymore. I also played volleyball in spring all 3 years and I did cheerleading in the 7th and 8th grade. The best thing was I didn't have to try out for any of these sports. I just had to sign up and I was on a team for my school and on a team with the girls in my class which was also really nice. I got to see them at school and outside of school for practice and games. It was tough keeping up with school work and playing sports but I worked hard and did the best I could to keep up my grades which I did. 

Not only did I do sports, The Junior High always put on a play in January and I was in the play my 7th and 8th grade year and it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it a lot. It was a lot of work and kept me busy especially when playing a sport and keeping up with school. 

Even though, I did sports and did the plays I was still very shy and quiet. I didn't initiate to hang out with my classmates just invited to do stuff with them which was very nice and I'm very thankful that they did that.

In Junior High, we had socials and those were fun. We had music playing for dancing and there were also games. Each social had a theme, some of themes we had were Hawaiian, Halloween, Sports, etc. We also had food too.

During the summer before going into the 8th grade, Two parents of two kids in my class decided to form a group called Colts Care. Colts is the mascot for the grade school I went to. Anyway, That summer and throughout the school year we volunteered at a local soup kitchen and served many meals to the less fortunate people and we went swimming with kids who were less fortunate. One Friday night, we had a parents night out where the parents dropped off their young kids and babysat them for a couple of hours and we played games and what not with the kids. It felt great to do stuff for the community and give back to it. 

8th grade year went by very quickly, well grade school went by really quickly to be honest. Before I knew it, it was time to decide to where I was going to go to high school and it was a subject that I really didn't like to talk about when the time came to choosing where it would be best for me to go to school. I didn't like the idea of going to a new school, new people, and new teachers and what not. I knew I would be leaving a school that I have gone to for 9 years. Another part of me was ready to leave and move on with life and go to the new ranks of high school. 

So 8th grade graduation came and I was feeling excited and anxious at the same time. I was excited about graduating and moving onto high school but anxious about leaving grade school that had been my comfort zone for the past 9 years. The ceremony went great. I got The principal's choice award which gave me $500 towards my tuition at my high school where I was attending. It was an award for two students who worked hard in school and was not at the top of their class and would need some assistance paying for high school. I was very thankful for that and so were my parents for sure. 

After the ceremony, there was a reception with a 8th grade video of pictures of all us when we were little and in grade school. We all got a copy of the video on DVD and I watch it sometimes when I think back to grade school.  

Well that summer I had a party for graduating from the 8th grade with family and friends and it was a fun party even though it was hot outside but at least the sun was shining! I got money and other good things. 

Well that's it about Junior High. If anyone has any questions for me that I didn't talk about in my blog post, feel free to contact me by sending me a message on facebook or e-mail. 

The next post will be about High School. 

With lots of love,

Chelsea 

Awareness Month!

Well as many of you know its Fragile X Awareness Month and that yesterday( July 22nd) was Fragile X Awareness Day. I also hope that many of you have enjoyed the Fragile Facts that I have posted as my facebook status each day during this month. I hope that you have learned something new or more about Fragile X than you already did. 

Fragile X really didn't mean anything to me when I was 10 years old when I was told that I had it. In 2008 it became a bit more meaningful to me when I came down with depression ( more about that in my high school post) Anyways, I went to my first FX Conference in St.Louis and learned so much about Fragile X and what it was. Also my first time getting introduced to other people by my Grandparents and them telling people that I have the full mutation and then getting the jaw dropping look that they can't believe that I have it. I also got to meet females like me who have the full mutation of FXS and they had the same symptoms of me, like the learning issues, the anxiety, and even depression. It was great hearing their stories on the Female Panel. I didn't feel so alone anymore after meeting them and hearing their stories. I knew I wasn't the only girl who was struggling living with FX. 

I knew going into my Junior Year that I had to do a big research paper for English class and I decided to do it on Fragile X and educate my teachers and classmates about FX. I got a lot of information at the Conference and online from the website. I did a good job on the paper and even gave it to my family members who weren't too familiar with FX to read and they really enjoyed reading it. 

In 2010, I went to the Conference in Dearborn, Michigan. It was my first time on the Female Panel. It was my first time talking in front of a big crowd of people of 50 or more. Once again I got to meet some new girls with the Full Mutation of FXS. I got to share my grade school and high school experiences. I amazed a lot of parents and got lots of compliments on my talk and that they hoped for the best for their daughters with FX. I did make one Mom cry, because I went to a Catholic grade school and high school with having FXS and she was so inspired by that. 

Last year, I went to my third Conference in Miami, Florida. I spoke on the Female Panel a second time and once again got a lot of compliments on my talk. I got to see a lot of the FX Community which is pretty awesome! ;-) 

Now, Fragile X Awareness means A LOT to me. I want people to be aware that this is actual genetic disease that I have it and that many others are affected as well. I do wear my FX shirts out in public often in hopes that someone asks me what it is or says I know what that is. Now I have my blog to tell people about my experiences with living with FX. Anyways, Iam getting used to the jaw dropping look of surprise when I tell people that I have FX. If anyone has any questions about FXS just let me know and I can answer it the best that I can. I do know lots of people in the FX community that could help me answer it as well. 

Well I hope that you all enjoyed this post! :-) New one SOON!!! 

With lots of love, 

Chelsea 

Learn more at: http://www.fragilex.org/ 

You can also read some stories about families in the FX Community: http://www.fragilex.org/community/faces-of-fragile-x/

Grade School Part 1.

I attended a catholic grade school where I attended for 9 years. I went there for K-8. It was and still is a very small school with about 160 students in the whole school. I know many parents who have a child with FX or some sort of disability would not send their child to a private school because private schools don't get the federal/state funding that is needed to help the students that some sort of disability to learn and also accommodate those students as well. 

Anyways, since I'm able to learn in a normal classroom setting. I was comfortable with my normal school setting and it was best for me to stay in the same school instead of switching schools right when I was getting adjusted to my new school. 

I got in a class with a good group of kids. Everyone was really nice to me. My classmates were very outgoing and sociable. When I was in Kindergarden, one of the kids parents in my kindergarden class started a club called the K-Club. In the K-Club we did activities throughout the year. Some examples are: The parent who started it, they would have a end of the summer party/beginning of the school year party in August. One of the girls in my class she would have a Halloween party that everyone would look forward to every year, especially the parents because they always had a great time. We would go to a local small amusement park called Coney Island in Cincinnati for the day. We would go swimming in the big pool and ride rides. It was nice to get out and socialize with everyone. 

I played soccer all my years of grade school and enjoyed it a lot. I played soccer with the same girls that I went to school with whether they were in my grade or a grade below me. I had great soccer coaches. We always had fun. In Kentucky, we have a big tournament every year for grade school and high school sports teams called The Bluegrass games down in Lexington, Ky. My soccer team usually went down along with other teams from my grade school and it was always a blast and usually very hot because they are in July. Everyone would stay at the same hotel and the parents would have a good time as well. If your team did well you could play for a medal, gold, silver or bronze. I have been lucky enough to have won the silver medal and a couple of bronze medals. 

I also played basketball in grade school as well. I only played from 3-6 grade. I wasn't a big fan of  playing basketball. I did it mostly to just learn how to play the game and to socialize really. The girls in my class were very good and talented. Some of them even went on to play in high school. It was fun to play in our school's annual basketball tournament that would be held every year in late November/early December. 

Other than socializing and playing sports which was very important, I did struggle with Math especially in school. In 4th and 5th grade, I got an awesome math teacher. She was so helpful in Math. She even tutored me one summer to go over stuff and work on stuff that I needed to work on the most and improve on that stuff like addition and subtraction math facts. Over the 2 years that I had her as a teacher, I got comfortable with working on math with her that when it came time to go into the 6th grade(Junior High), I didn't like the idea of having a new math teacher. She helped me with the transition of having a new math teacher. She let my new math teacher know who I was and what struggles I had in math and how she could help me learn. Since my new math teacher came in the afternoon to teach, she told me that If I ever needed help I could to come her before school started and we could go over something that I didn't understand like on the homework for example. I did that for about the first year of Junior High until I had gotten used to my new math teacher. After that, I just visited her here and there at her classroom to let her know how I was doing in Math and what not. 

I was able to get help whenever I needed it. My teachers were willing to work with me to help me succeed in school. They would let me come in during recess sometimes to work on stuff or to finish a test. 

Well I hope this was some help to most of you with girls with FX. I decided to break up the blogs about grade school into two because I went to the same grade school for 9 years which included 3 years of Junior High. It would have been a lot to read at once. 

Well hope you enjoyed this post! Next Post: End of this month/early next month. 

With lots of love,

Chelsea 

Introduction of myself/FX

Hello Everyone! Welcome to my blog FragileXChick. I hope that my blog is helpful to you all in understanding more about Fragile X and how it has affected my life. I also hope that it helps those who are parents to girls who have the full mutation of FX. Lastly, I hope it helps those females who are affected with FX with whatever problems they be experiencing in life at the moment or can relate to what I talk about in my future blog posts. 

In this blog, I'm just going to introduce myself, give you some background about what Fragile X is to those who may not have a clear idea of what it is. Also I'm going to mention how it runs in my family and when I was diagnosed and then when I was told.

My name is Chelsea Owens. I'm currently 21 and will be 22 in September. I live in Cold Spring, Kentucky. I still live at home with my parents Shane and Paula, my sister Kaitlyn who is 19 , and my brother Thomas who just turned 16. I have 2 pets, a cat named Fluffy and he is 17 years old and a dog named Kodak and he is 7 months old. 

I'm currently in college at Gateway Community and Technical College. I've been attending there all of my college years so far. I've changed majors so I'm kinda behind on getting my associates degree in Education. I'm planning on getting my associates degree in Education from Gateway and then transferring to NKU(Northern Kentucky University) to finish out my degree. I will talk more about school in my future blogs. 

I currently work at a daycare called Aunt Kathy's in Highland Heights, Kentucky. It's my first job.  I have been working there for a year and I love working there! I mostly work with the one year olds but sometimes I get switched around to different rooms. Some days are better than others but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love working with the kids and helping them learn. The kids are adorable and love seeing their personalities shine and seeing them smile. They always make my day when I work.  

Well now onto, what exactly Fragile X is. Well Fragile X is a genetic condition that causes intellectual disability, behavioral and learning challenges and various physical characteristics. Fragile X occurs in both genders male and female. It also occurs in all races as well. To learn more go to: 

http://www.fragilex.org/

Fragile X runs on my mom's side of the family. The Heisel side. The family members that are affected with FX are: My Grandma( carrier), My Aunt Amy(carrier), My Uncle Scott(carrier), My two cousins Maria and Hannah( Carriers). My Mom(Full Mutation), My Uncle Aaron(Full Mutation) and my cousin Larry( Full Mutation). My cousin Larry is my Aunt Amy's son and then Maria and Hannah are my Uncle Scott's two girls. 

I was diagnosed at the age of 7 after my Aunt noticed that my cousin Larry was a baby and was behind on development and then had him tested and found out about FXS. Then I got diagnosed with the Full Mutation. I wasn't told that I had FX until I was about 10 years old. I obviously didn't get the full understanding of what FXS was at the time. All I really knew was that my cousin Larry had it and that I wasn't autistic like he was. I just thought it was a learning disability that I had and got extra help when I needed it in school and kinda of moved on with life. 

In my next blog, I will talk about when I was in Junior High and my experiences with attending a Catholic Grade School. 

Thanks for reading! :-) 

Enjoy! I promise that the next one will be much more interesting. 

With lots of love,

Chelsea