Dear all,

this 4th European Congress is organized by AIRETT (Italian Association of Rett Syndrome), with the collaboration of RSE (Rett Syndrome European Association). AIRETT was already the promoter of the first European Congress held in Milan in 2009.

In this interesting event we will meet together, reseachers, clinicians, therapists, educators, teachers, families and our girls with beautiful eyes.

The aim is to improve our clinical care sharing our skills and studies, hoping in new ideas for a better future of girls with Rett Syndrome.

The researchers will report the results of their most recent studies. We know that they worked very hard to identify the mechanisms underlying the Rett condition.
Many of them tested potential new treatments on animals in order to reverse or stop the evolution of RS. So it will be very interesting to know their findings.

Meanwhile, as clinicians, we wish to improve daily care. Thus the most skilled practitioners will talk about their experiences allowing us to better care our girls and manage the various clinical problems, on the basis of specific protocols that they will present.

We asked them to focus on symptoms control and on strategies to prevent complications that may arise. This point constitutes a very important target in our daily work. They also support us in following girls during aging: their suggestions will show how to make girls grow in the best possible conditions and ensure a comfortable quality of life for them and their parents.

In recent years, many clinical trials with new molecules have been carried on in girls with Rett Syndrome. We invited principal investigators to directly get aware of their results and discuss about the possibility of transfer their findings to our clinical work.

At the same time we called experts on communication and rehabilitation to receivesuggestions about modern treatment programs. We wish to look at them working with girls directly or through videotape.

Moreover they will present the newest aids and tools.
We believe in young people and want them with us to present the findings of their studies.

Finally, we organized a specific track for therapists, educators, teachers, families so that they can compare and share questions with the experts and get back to their homes with new skills.

We are proud to have with us many of the leaders in various fields, not only from Europe but even from the United States and Australia, and we want to thank all of them for their availability.

Families can participate in all sessions, discuss with all the experts and have individual consultations with the experts.

Therefore, we expect many of you in Rome for the challenge to the Rett Syndrome.

Edvige Veneselli Lucia Dovigo