A Chatterbox Struggles with Her Articulation

**Special Note: The country where this child resides does allow photolistings of their waiting children

I arrived at my children’s home two and a half years ago. I’m six years old. The nice people who help children found me on the city streets and brought me to this place. I’m very happy to be here. I have a lot of friends, I get to go to school and this is a fun place to be most of the time. It seems like I’ve been here forever and I have a hard time remembering my life before I was here. The times when I’m most sad however are when one of my friends leaves to go and join a family. Since I’ve arrived I’ve lost lots of friends to adoption. No one ever talked about adoption to me and I was afraid to ask. I thought it would never happen for me. I guessed it was because everyone has a difficult time understanding what I’m trying to tell them.

Last month things changed. The American Aunty came to visit all of us again and this time, for the first time, she asked if I wanted to join a family and become someone’s daughter. She tried to explain that papers were the reason I had to wait so long for it to be my turn. Papers? It made no sense but I was too happy to care. I was really surprised as I never expected her to ask me and I just couldn’t stop myself from smiling and smiling and smiling. I told her yes I did want a family and she understood me. She gave me a hug and said she would start to look for the right family for me. I asked her (through one of the older girls who speaks more English than I do) when this would happen. She said she didn’t know. I asked her if I would get a photo book like some of the other children have and she said that when the right family is found that I would get a photo book from them. Does anyone reading this want to become my family and send me a photo book?

I have lots of friends here. I have fun playing with them and they have fun playing with me. OK, maybe sometimes my friends get a little upset with me because when they misbehave I help my teacher my letting her know. I like to be sure that my teacher and my room mother know when things don’t go right. I’m trying not to do that so much because my friends don’t seem to understand that I’m just trying to help. My caretaker loves me and I love her. I heard her talking to the Aunty and she said that I’m a really good girl and that I’m helpful. I really like to help and so they don’t have to ask or tell me to do things. I like to clean and have things in order; this seems to make people smile at me. I like to smile and talk too. People say I’m almost always happy. That’s almost true; when am I not happy? I’m not happy when my friends get mad at me. Oh, did I tell you that I LOVE to talk? Well, I do and I talk a lot! This seems to be a problem. I know I sound different than my friends but I know exactly what I’m saying and I wish everyone could understand me better. Since I arrived, I’ve been learning from my teacher how to make myself more understandable. I try to talk s-l-o-w-e-r. The problem is that when I get excited and want to share what I know or have to say with others, the words just spill out before I can remember to go s-l-o-w-e-r.

My teacher assured the Aunty that my language skills are good. She says I use language well and that I’m a quick learner. She says that my articulation (they tell me that this is the way I say the words) is the problem. The doctor says that there are no structural problems with my mouth (my mouth is built OK) and that I need a special class to teach me to form words. That would be OK with me as I really like school and learning. Even better, if I could learn to say my words right, I would not have to repeat myself so often or to remember to talk s-l-o-w-e-r. In my classroom, I have a good time. I like to practice my work and then show the teacher and visitors how much I know. My teacher says I’ve learned quickly since I’ve been in her class and that she’s really proud of me. When I’m not playing with my friends or learning, my favorite things to do are drawing and sleeping late. Getting up in the morning isn’t too fun for me. I also like everything that’s red color.

Note from the Aunty: On a recent visit I was as pleased as always to see this sweet little girl. Once again, I was struck by how much this little one tries to improve her speech at every turn. She never seems to get frustrated with others for not understanding her and she will continue to repeat herself in attempts to be better understood. She still LOVES to talk and I find that with each visit even I can understand her better. This lovable little girl is praised by the adults. Many of the children say she’s their best friend. Her teacher considers her above average in her abilities. She is extremely respectful of the teacher and very confident in the knowledge that she has. The teacher describes her as independent and a child who listens well. Her caretaker repeated many of the same comments above when I interviewed her. To see her RainbowKid’s listing, go to: http://www.rainbowkids.com/wc/viewChild.jsp?oid=11576

I would also like to make you aware, that at this writing, two of our past “Special Children” featured in this spot have not found their forever families. If you would like to see their stories again, please go to:

My Sister Needs a Family – February issue

The Challenges of Being a Toddler Who Can’t – March issuel

Teri L. Bell, LSW, MA

Special Needs Coordinator

http://aiaaadopt.org

Americans for International Aid and Adoption

651 687-0259

651 688-6639 fax

EMAIL: aiaateri@aol.com