Mom hits back at trolls who turned disabled son's photo into Internet meme

Photo: Jameson's Journey/Facebook

The mother of a 4-year-old boy born with a syndrome that altered the shape of his head and caused other health complications is hitting back at Internet trolls who turned a personal photo of him into a social media meme.

AliceAnn Meyer, of Texas, posted a photo of her son Jameson as part of her online blog titled Jameson’s Journey, which documents his life with Pfeiffer syndrome. The disorder causes premature fusion of certain skull bones that prevents the skull from growing normally, and affects the shape of the head and face. It can also affect bones in the hands and feet, and more than half of all children with Pfeiffer syndrome experience hearing loss and dental problems. It affects approximately 1 in 100,000 newborns, according to Boston Children’s Hospital.

Meyer, a mother of three, discovered that the picture she had posted of her son more than a year ago had been altered to compare him to a pug, and that it had been circulated on various social media sites. On Facebook, it had been shared more than 3,000 times.

“You stole a photo of my four-year-old son,” Meyer wrote in a post titled This Is My Son Jameson, And No, You May Not Use His Photo. “Say what you want out loud, to your friends, in the comment box, but do not take my photo to degrade my child,” she wrote.

“To everyone that ‘LOL’d,’ shared, and posted that meme, let me start by introducing you to the child you find so funny. His name is Jameson. He is very real, and he was born with Pfeiffer syndrome,” she wrote.

More from FOXnews.com