Things Are Not Always What They Seem

We are quick to judge or assume things before we know the real truths.  I realize each day just how much I do not know.  It is through experience, listening and reading I gain knowledge, but there is so much more to learn.  I’m not an expert in anything and learned long ago that people are out there doing the best they can at the moment.  I do not want to sit in judgment and surely do not know what is best for others.  I try to live by the “walking in another person’s shoes” philosophy.  How can we know what they are living, if we are not living the exact same thing?

Being a better person makes me want to constantly learn.  I’m hungry for new experiences and knowledge.  I continue to grow because of this need.  Growth is a very necessary part of our existence.  There can be no happiness without it.

I’d like to share a very personal story about my son Josh.  He came to me at 11 months old only weighing 11 pounds.  He was a fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) baby and coke baby.  His birth mother drank heavily and used coke while carrying him and after his birth.  She didn’t know if he had eaten the day he was taken from her.  He was lifeless in the crib and was taken immediately to the doctor.  He was placed in my foster home.  I loved him the minute he was put into my arms.  I always have felt that I gave birth to him that day.  He needed very special care, like a 3^rd world nation starving child.  Until he was almost 3 years old he could only eat rice, soy formula, turkey and chicken because of what the starvation had done to his digestive system.  He did thrive though and gained weight immediately.  Of course, he became a learning experience immediately and I needed information that was not readily available.  We saw University of Iowa Hospital, doctors, doctors and more doctors.  School and AEA became a challenge because they set very low expectations for him.  I laughed when AEA told me he was working beyond his potential.  How can one work beyond their potential?  School said he would never learn beyond 7^th grade math and yet own his own, he got his GED.  I have learned much and am still learning about FAS because life continues to be a great challenge for Josh and always will be.

I gleaned this information from the internet and it describes Josh almost 100%:

Symptoms of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Fetal alcohol syndrome includes the 52 symptoms listed below:

• Low birth weight
• Delayed growth
• Characteristic facial features
• Short palpebral fissures (eye openings)
• Thin upper lip
• Flattened midface
• Flattened philtrum (upper lip groove)
• Cleft lip
• Cleft palate
• Skull malformations
• Brain malformations
• Intellectual impairment
• Mental retardation
• Hyperactivity
• Developmental delay
• Learning difficulty
• Memory difficulty
• Problem solving difficulty
• Impaired coordination
• Speech impairment
• Hearing impairment
• Behavioral problems
• Hyperactivity
• Inattention
• Impulsivity
• Growth deficiency
• Low I Q
• Fine motor dysfunction
• Weak grasp
• Poor eye-hand coordination
• Tremulousness
• Infant irritability
• Childhood hyperactivity
• Small head
• Short space between eyelids
• Maxillary hypoplasia
• Short nose
• Smooth philtrum
• Smooth upper lip
• Joint abnormalities
• Abnormal joint position
• Abnormal joint function
• Altered palmar crease patterns
• Small distal phalanges
• Small fifth fingernails
• Heart murmur during first year
• Ventricular septal defect
• Auricular septal defect
• Abnormal behavior
• Poor judgment
• Distractibility
• Difficulty recognizing social cues

Hope you have learned something today.  Keep learning, read and grow.  You are welcome to share your own story.

Be happy and God bless you.