Rett syndrome makes my kid a different sort of baseball fan

The Trenton Thunder’s baseball season opened the other day, though only a hardcore few noticed. Like most households in New Jersey, ours is fairly indifferent to the Thunder. And yet before the summer is over we will make several trips to see the team play, because watching a baseball game we don’t care about is the ideal activity for our daughter Abby, who has Rett syndrome.

Unless you live near me in New Jersey, you’ve probably never heard of the Trenton Thunder, a baseball team so minor that it’s not even minor league. The Thunder used to be a minor league affiliate of the New York Yankees, the preferred major league team in our household, but the Yankees shuffled their minor league system in 2020 and dropped Trenton. Since then, the Thunder has been part of the MLB Draft League, which gives a hodgepodge of college and other players a chance to work on their skills and try to impress someone at baseball’s higher levels.

The team plays in a nice ballpark in Trenton. Tickets are cheap, and the food is decent. We know none of the players’ names, could not tell you the team’s record, and often leave before the game is over because Abby’s bedtime is imminent. Some of the fans in the stands are interested in the game, of course, but we are not among them. Yet Abby always seems to have a good time because, I think, she simply enjoys being part of something with other human beings.

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Abby attends a Trenton Thunder game in 2023. (Photo by Neil Genzlinger)

Like most people with Rett syndrome, Abby, who is 29, is nonverbal, and she doesn’t communicate well with devices, so it’s hard to tell what she’s thinking, but part of our learning process as special needs parents over the decades has been realizing that Abby World is different from Most of the World. It’s different, for instance, from what we experienced with her sister, who is 10 years older than Abby.

When that sister was a tweener, she was a rabid fan of the Yankees, who at the time were led by the heartthrob Derek Jeter. She and I made many trips into New York City to see the Yankees play and were deeply invested in how the team did. You don’t pay Yankee ticket prices and haul yourself to the Bronx to watch a game you don’t care about. And would we ever leave before the game ended? No way.

But Abby is not her sister, in regards to sports and almost everything else. For much of her life, people around her have tried to fit her into the box that most of the rest of the world lives in. What’s your favorite color, Abby? Do you want to race me to the car, Abby? How ’bout them Yankees, Abby?

The thing is, Abby doesn’t seem to care about impressing anyone by answering mindless questions, or about winning a race or a board game or anything else. Or about rooting for a sports team. 

All of those things and many more are expectations we impose beginning in childhood because, well, that’s what being human is, isn’t it? No. It’s one version of being human, one that fits a lot of us. But Abby World, in my opinion, isn’t about cheering or competing. It’s about absorbing an experience, being part of it just by being present.

So we’ll be at a few Trenton Thunder games this season and love it. Just don’t ask us who won. 

Note: Rett Syndrome News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Rett Syndrome News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to Rett syndrome.