The oldest "natural" child in a big family describes life after his parents decided to take in six special-needs children into their family.
Hi! Brandt Pearson, here.
I am 15 years old, the oldest in my family; and I am still trying to get used to the idea of mom and dad taking in kids that are special-needs. That is, they are handicapped, and other than Ash, my younger brother, who has epilepsy, I really hadn't been around kids with disabilities all that much until mom and dad adopted my brothers and sisters.
They are all good kids and all, but some are really bad off, if you know what I mean. The one boy (Jamar) has asthma so bad he is always going to the emergency room, and he is often on oxygen at night; and the one girl (Miracle) is more like a big baby than an 11-year-old. She can't talk or walk, and she is in diapers. She can't even go to the bathroom by herself! And the youngest child (Hayleigh; she is six) is in diapers too, and she can't walk, as her legs are paralyzed; and she has her problems, too. Just as I write this, she is recovering from another bladder infection, and she is miserable. She is feeling a little better, but she is still not feeling her best; and she is whiny and clingy right now.
Now, Henry and Jordan aren't too bad; one is blind (Henry) and the other is deaf (Jordan), but they can get around better than say, Miracle or Hayleigh, and they can, more or less, pretty well take care of themselves, no problems. Malik (Miracle's twin brother) is handicapped, too (like his sister, he has cerebral palsy), but he is another one who can pretty well take care of himself; he's not so bad either.
So I have had to get used to things like crutches or wheelchairs, "diaper duty" or feeding Miracle, even though she isn't a baby, or learning sign language, so I can communicate with Jordan. But despite the challenges, it's also been rather fun! And I am so glad I have Saph and Ash, as well as mom and dad to help me, with my handicapped brothers and sisters!
But did you know that mom and dad are thinking of adopting two more into our family (as if it isn't already big enough as it is!)? Yep. You read right! Next month, we are getting two new girls into the family; right now, they are staying with a family in Tennessee until mom and dad get their paperwork done (and it is just about now done as of this writing). Two sisters, aged 4 1/2 and 13, from Cambodia. Their names are Hanh Ly and Linn Chan, and they are disabled, too. Hanh Ly is blind, and her sister has no arms; she does everything with her feet. And they are both learning English. (That's good, 'cause I don't speak Cambodian!)
So our family will go from nine kids to 11 next month. Will write about them at a later date!
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Hi! Brandt Pearson, here.
