Sydney Wellington could soon finally have a voice, years after hers was silenced by Rett syndrome.

"She's in there, she knows things,” says Shannon Wellington, Sydney’s mother. “She just can't, she's trapped inside her body."

Pediatric neurologist Dr. Daniel Tarquinio at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta specializes in Rett syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects about 1 out of every 10,000 girls.

"So, children are born normal,” Dr. Tarquinio says. “They develop normally. They learn to sit. They learn a few words, they learn to use their hands."

But, when Sydney was still a toddler, she began losing all of that. At 20, she is unable to walk, use her hands to feed herself, and cannot speak. But, Sydney has a secret weapon: her eyes.

"One of the strengths of people with Rett syndrome is they have excellent eye-gaze,” says Dr. Tarquinio. “It's been described as unnaturally piercing. They will stare you down."

"So they can't talk,” he says, “But they can talk with their eyes."

More from the FOX Medical Team: www.fox5atlanta.com/health/fox-medical-team/139296199-story

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