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Ten-year-old Nikki Best (Kyley Statham) is a beautiful, intelligent and precocious child. She also suffers from Rett Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder which prohibits her from speaking more than a few words without assistance. Unable or unwilling to understand Nikki's ailment, the doctors and the school authorities are willing to write her off as just another mentally handicapped youngster. But Nikki's courageous mother, Terri (Jessica Steen), is not about to let this happen, embarking on a fierce and ferocious campaign to fight for her daughter's basic rights. In the end, both mother and daughter must put up a united front against the powers that be in order to face the most daunting challenge of Nikki's young life. Based on a true story, Society's Child made its Canadian TV debut over the CBC network on February 2, 2002, and was subsequently aired in the U.S. by the Lifetime cable channel on November 21 of that same year.