Aurora’s primary rare diagnosis of Lissencephaly was made when a brain MRI was conducted at five months of age, following concerns about delayed developmental milestones. Recognizing the complex medical and therapeutic needs her condition would require, her family relocated back to Austin from Interior Alaska, where she was born.

At age three, she received a second rare diagnosis of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, identified through an EEG after her infantile spasms progressed into more complex seizure activity.

Although Aurora is nonverbal, developmentally delayed and uses a wheelchair, she is sociable and capable of forming strong friendships with individuals who make an extra effort to understand her world and spend time with her.