Dylan was 4 years old when he was diagnosed with MDP syndrome. Later on, in adolescence, he was also diagnosed with autism.
Until the age of 3, Dylan was a normal baby boy who lived with his mother in the east end of Glasgow.
Dylan was diagnosed with MDP syndrome, a genetic premature aging disease, also known as mandibular dysplasia, with deafness and progeroid features. MDP syndrome is a rare disease which has affected only 14 people, worldwide.
However, Dylan’s story is more than a disease which he must deal with every day. It is a story about acceptance and social understanding. It is a story about how people treat people with visible differences.
Dylan was struggling at school with social acceptance problems. It was so demanding to cope with reality and make new friends, until he decided to share his health experience with his classmates.
As he said “I found it hard and challenging to make friends, which made me really upset. I felt trapped in a bubble, all on my own. I decided to share my story with my class, so they could understand me and my condition better.”
After educating his classmates about his disease and the hard journey of diagnosis, Dylan managed to make new friends, which filled him with confidence and secure. In High school the situation, changed again, as he was diagnosed with autism, which made it harder to communicate with his peers.
During this time, Dylan has have learned it’s ok to be different. Different is amazing, different is a gift. It may have changed his life and been difficult at times, but it hasn’t stopped him from living life. He has used Instagram to make friends and to share his story and to spread kindness and positivity because it’s what the world needs the most. He has also shared his experience and useful information about the MDP syndrome and its symptoms on the BBC Radio Scotland.
Dylan wrote a poem about his unique experience: “We are not all born the same, how boring the world would be, being different is the best thing, makes us a lot more free. There are some that are very different, disabilities here and there, they are still human beings, treat them equally and fair”.
Against all odds, Dylan has lived with harmony and peace and has managed to develop some hobbies, such as photography, which he adores. Also
Read more about the MDP syndrome
Original Article: Published on 2 June 2021 on Changing Faces
Photo credit: Changing Faces
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