@beth_and_coop: It’s been a minute since we talked about Waardenburg syndrome, which is Coop’s diagnosis. Now that he’s old enough to understand it, he requested a car chat about it. Waardenburg Syndrome affects about 1 in 40,000 people. It can affect pigment and impact hearing. For Coop, it’s the reason behind his white hair streak and unbelievably blue eyes, as well as his deafness. There are 4 types of Waardenburg and 6 known gene associations (likely more that haven’t been discovered). Genetic testing didn’t link any of the known 6 for us, but Coop still meets the clinical diagnostic criteria and likely has one of the not yet discovered gene associations. Fun fact: Waardenburg Syndrome is common in ferrets, and they also have a white streak and are often deaf.