Memoir explores genetic disorder, learning disabilities
April 3rd, 2009
From Good Morning America (video) and USA Today:
Quinn Bradlee, the son of former Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee and journalist Sally Quinn, has written a memoir, “A Different Life: Growing Up Learning Disabled and Other Adventures.”
Bradlee, 26, learned as a teenager that he has velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS), a genetic disorder that affects about one in 2,000 people or about 150,000 Americans. His book, written with publishing pro Jeff Himmelman, recounts the saga of a young man struggling to find himself amid medical complications and uncertainty.
In an interview with GMA’s Diane Sawyer, Sally Quinn says her son was once diagnosed as being “hopelessly retarded, and would be institutionalized, never go to high school, never go to college, no job, no relationship, no family. That was one of the low points.”
Bradlee has launched a website called FriendsofQuinn.com, and says he wants people with VCFS and all kinds of learning disabilities to know “it’s not the worst thing in the world.” The site offers resources for people with learning disabilities, as well as social networking and tips on schools and dating.
Bradlee reports that he has a girlfriend and lives in a group house next door to his parents.
See also:
- Quinn’s great expectations — Newsweek. An excerpt from Bradlee’s book.
- Sun, sea, sex — and oh shucks, Mom too — [UK] Times. An excerpt. As a teenager, Quinn Bradlee was eager to lose his virginity. A friend took him to a “house of ill repute.” The next morning, he told his mother …
- Excerpt: ‘A Different Life;’ Quinn Bradlee grew up with a battery of illnesses and a learning disability — ABC Good Morning America
- Newspaper editor’s son tackles his own disease in film — ABC News (June 24, 2007)
(Photo from USA Today)
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