Clayton — Cerebral palsy. taking anticonvulsant therapy
His twin brother, Caleb, passed away in 2017
From someone who met them in 2013:
(Brother 1) He is in with a much younger groupa. He goes outside twice daily when it is nice, and this orphanage does physical therapy five times a week. He makes eye contact, but is in his own little world until you talk directly to him. He appears kind of zoned out, and then I said his name and stroked his cheek and his whole body came to life, just longing to be touched and tickled. He arched his back and smiled, but I wasn’t allowed to pick him up. He has grown too long for his stroller. I put a velcro wrist rattle on him and he purposefully moved his left arm to interact with it immediately. He is well nourished there, but he will really need a mama’s touch to help him grow. His teeth look like they are in great shape. He uses his arms, but I did not see him move his legs, though he was certainly wiggling from one side to the other and is a kid who would really like to be on the move! He is not in the same groupa as his brother. Kids are generally grouped by what they are eating, and his brother was in the groupa for kids doing formula and purees. I think he may be on only formula still. It was so hard to leave him behind!
(Brother 2) Several days later, I saw who I thought was the same child in a different stroller, but the nannies corrected me when I called him by his brothers name, slowly communicating that this was his twin brother. They look SO much alike! The first day I saw him, he was badly in need of a diaper change and I showed the nannies. He was laying flat on his back in the outdoor playpen, and when I came back to return my daughter to the groupa, he was still there an hour later, unchanged in diaper and position. The next day I saw him, though, one of the sweet nannies was playing music on her ipod, and he was laying close to her in a stroller. Although he didn’t interact with the music, he was very quick to respond to my voice. The second I stopped talking, he stopped smiling and zoned out again. But, he was so responsive to touch and baby talk! He pushed his body around in the stroller with his legs AND arms, and had a lot of good neck strength. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he is only being limited by the assumptions of his diagnosis. As we left our daughter’s groupa for the last time, we saw him being lovingly carried down to his physical therapy appointment. I think it was a sign of good things to come for these boys!
Neither boy is using meaningful speech, though both babble. Videos available. Wonderful region to adopt from, especially if one parent needs to stay alone for a time.
