Team Barrett

Our sweet Barrett, born 10/27/20, was diagnosed with Lissencephaly when he was just shy of 6 months of age.

Lissencephaly, which literally means "smooth brain," is a rare, gene-linked brain malformation characterized by the absence of normal convolutions (folds) in the cerebral cortex and an abnormally small head (microcephaly).

Lissencephaly has a severe impact on the child’s development, and is so rare that it affects just 1 in 100,000. There is no cure for Lissencepahly but children like Barrett can show progress in development over time.

Barrett is currently working very hard in weekly speech, occupational, and feeding therapy and continues to show progress in his skills.

The cost to attend a three-week stint of intensive therapy at NAPA is $8300, but this does not include the cost of hotel accommodations, travel, etc. These expenses are not covered by insurance, so we have started this campaign in hopes of raising money to subsidize the costs! You can learn more about NAPA here: https://napacenter.org/our-programs/intensive-therapy/

Contingently, we also want to draw attention to the fact that “smooth brain” is sadly often used in derogatory, demeaning ways to criticize a person for not being very smart - but “smooth brain” is the literal diagnosis of his condition, and what makes Barrett and other kids like him so incredibly special. For this reason, we hope to change the way this phrase is irresponsibly used.

So, as a born and raised Kentucky kid (and with a dad that is quite the connoisseur of bourbon) we loved the idea of comparing the smoothness of Barrett’s brain to the smoothness of a good bourbon.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for teaming with us to help our little guy and others like him live their best possible life.