Like my little sister, Jodie, I have a special little brother whose name is Todd. Todd Michael Christopher, to be exact. Todd Michael (as we usually call him) is nearing 12 years of age, and he is a very dear little boy.
Todd, like Jodie, has severe cerebral palsy, and like his sister, Todd is nonverbal..that is, he CANNOT talk, but, unlike his sister, he CANNOT make ANY noise AT ALL. He also cannot walk, and he is in a wheelchair and wears braces on his thin, sticklike legs. But the type of cerebral palsy that Todd has is different than the type that Jodie has. (Jodie has spastic quadriplegia, which means that all four limbs are affected, plus she has mental retardation, which was caused by a lack of oxygen to her brain before her birth. Todd, meanwhile, has another type of cerebral palsy called "athetoid", which means that any little movement causes his muscles to jerk and spasm uncontrollably, like when a marionette puppet moves when someone pulls the strings. He also has spasms in his throat, which causes him to have a lot of difficulty with swallowing his food when he tries to eat.)
And, like Jodie, Todd happens to be severely mentally retarded. Both have I.Q.'s that are lower than 30, which means they are profoundly mentally retarded. This means that they will always require total care. They will never be able to learn to dress, feed, or care for themselves, they will never be able to learn to read or write, and they will probably never get out of diapers, even when they become adults.
They will probably end up having to be placed into a nursing home if their personal care gets to be TOO overwhelming; but maman really hopes that doesn't happen because she happens to be a registered nurse, and she knows all about caring for special-needs children, even those severely disabled like Todd and Jodie.
In addition to his physical problems, Todd also has severe concerns when it comes to his breathing. He has severe asthma, and he often has a lot of respiratory problems, some, of which, have nearly killed him, they were so bad. He has to wear oxygen at night, and he has to have physiotherapy every day, several times a day, in fact, to help keep his lungs as clear as possible; plus he has to be closely monitored while at school, to make sure he doesn't get sick; as his lungs aren't that strong in the first place. There has been many a time where maman has found Todd lying motionless in his bed, not breathing, and his face all blue and sweaty. Needless to say, an ambulance would then have to be called, and then the paramedics would have to come to our house to try to get him breathing again.
Todd isn't that much trouble, as he is quiet, but feeding him takes well over an hour, and people tend to stare openmouthed when we take him with us. They see this skinny little brown-haired boy on oxygen, sitting in a wheelchair, moving like he had a bad case of ants in his pants, and they don't really know what to make of him. They get all worried because they think he is going to do "something bad" or do something like throw up all over the floor (and yes, I'm afraid this has happened; NOT fun when we're at a restaurant like the Golden Corral; it only makes for a bunch of very unhappy customers!) or pee in his wheelchair.
While Todd really can't express himself that well and cannot talk, he DOES, meanwhile, let one know just how he is feeling. If happy his big, brown eyes sparkle like diamonds, and a huge grin will light up his thin, freckled face, but if he is sad he will wriggle around more than usual, and his face will have frown lines; or tears will pop out of his eyes and run down his cheeks. If mad, he will bang his head against the back of his wheelchair, and his body will become more spastic than ever, making dressing him, brushing his teeth, or brushing his hair all the more impossible.
Or the worst case scenerio--he will throw up on you.
It's REALLY DISGUSTING whenever he does that!! :(
But other than that, my little brother is a real charmer. He smiles and "laughs" often, and he loves to be read to or held; and he loves all types of music, whether it be country, classical, rock, rap, gospel, or even polka. He also loves the cartoons on televison. He also loves to look at his reflection in the mirror on his bed, and he loves to play with his ball by rolling it around or by twiddling his fingers by his face. For some reason, that always seems to calm him down and make him happy.
I just wish people would stop staring at him each and every time we go out....
When vacationing at a mysterious Maine lighthouse, ten-year-old Dylan befriends a ghostly lighthouse keeper who must protect Dylan from danger after he learns a very big secret.
