X005RH@TAMVM1.BITNET (Rick Huff) (01/31/91)
Index Number: 13266
My wife and I are adopting an infant that was born without arms. He
is now 5 months old and is perfectly healthy. We already have a
4 year old and another baby on the way that should provide a stimulating
home for him. We are looking forward to raising him as a part of our
family.
Are there any people out there that have experience with this disability
that could give us some insight into what challenges he will be facing
in the future? What is your experience or knowledge about rehabilitative
therapy? Prosthetics? Thanks for any information that you can provide.
Rick Huff
Systems Analyst
CSC, Billing Office
5-7223thurlow@convex.com (Robert Thurlow) (01/31/91)
Index Number: 13284 In <17279@bunker.UUCP> X005RH@TAMVM1.BITNET (Rick Huff) writes: >My wife and I are adopting an infant that was born without arms. He >is now 5 months old and is perfectly healthy. We already have a >4 year old and another baby on the way that should provide a stimulating >home for him. We are looking forward to raising him as a part of our >family. There's a tape you need from the North Texas Amputee Support Group that should help a lot; it's about a terrific young woman born without arms, and has quite a bit of discussion and demonstration of how she coped with things. Stacey Conner, before her untimely death, was doing a lot to help young people with similar disabilities, though she never seemed to feel particularly disabled. To get the tape, contact: Bill Baughn North Texas Amputee Support Group 5427 Redfield Dallas, TX 75235 (214) 631-7438 [Note from Bill McGarry: Bill Baughn also reads the Fidonet conference, ABLED, which is gatwayed with this newsgroup.] >Are there any people out there that have experience with this disability >that could give us some insight into what challenges he will be facing >in the future? What is your experience or knowledge about rehabilitative >therapy? Prosthetics? Thanks for any information that you can provide. To generalize outrageously, you need to support him and stay out of his way! :-) He'll probably figure out lots of ways to get around the inconvenience all by himself just by trying, though smart and observant parents can certainly get good ideas and contribute a lot of support. The main thing is that he'll grow up not knowing what having arms is like; "rehabilitation" will have very little practical applicability. Prosthetics are normally rejected by almost all such children, and for good reasons in general; it's like you strapping an extra arm onto your back. Bill can bend your ear more on this based on more relevant personal experience, so I'll shut up now. All the best; it's always great to see people do good things! Rob T -- Rob Thurlow, thurlow@convex.com An employee and not a spokesman for Convex Computer Corp., Dallas, TX