She needs you.
There is no light in her world.
She sits and waits and poses for the camera as someone takes one more picture to add to her file. They are all hoping someone will notice her and be moved to bring her into their family.
She needs to be a daughter, and not an orphan.
Her face needs to be kissed by a mother.
A daddy needs to protect her from all harm.
A momma needs to fall in love with a picture and a daddy needs to stand for her and be courageous enough to say yes.
She weighs on my heart all day long, every day.
As it turns out, I am human. I am just like you every day.
I am tired. I am worn out. I am scared that I get this parenting thing more wrong than the times I get it right.
Today my heart cannot rise to do this again. And I feel that weight. I carry it all day long.
And yet she is the girl who sits on my shoulder.
Day in and day out I pray for her.
I ask God to whisper her name into the heart of a mother and a father somewhere.
And she finds me in my dreams. .
Justice does not leave her an orphan.
Love does not pass by her picture.
The God who asks us to be the one who stops, who cares, who loves, is showing her to us today.
She is more than our fears.
She is more than her fears.
She is more than her disabilities.
She is Calina.
And Calina needs a yes today.
Please say yes.
There is no light in her world.
She sits and waits and poses for the camera as someone takes one more picture to add to her file. They are all hoping someone will notice her and be moved to bring her into their family.
She needs to be a daughter, and not an orphan.
Her face needs to be kissed by a mother.
A daddy needs to protect her from all harm.
A momma needs to fall in love with a picture and a daddy needs to stand for her and be courageous enough to say yes.
She weighs on my heart all day long, every day.
As it turns out, I am human. I am just like you every day.
I am tired. I am worn out. I am scared that I get this parenting thing more wrong than the times I get it right.
Today my heart cannot rise to do this again. And I feel that weight. I carry it all day long.
And yet she is the girl who sits on my shoulder.
Day in and day out I pray for her.
I ask God to whisper her name into the heart of a mother and a father somewhere.
And she finds me in my dreams. .
Justice does not leave her an orphan.
Love does not pass by her picture.
The God who asks us to be the one who stops, who cares, who loves, is showing her to us today.
She is more than our fears.
She is more than her fears.
She is more than her disabilities.
She is Calina.
And Calina needs a yes today.
Please say yes.
While there are many children and adults that are non verbal, only a small percentage of these are unable to use augmentative communication. Some Medicaid programs cover augmentative devices. Some insurance will pay some of the cost. If you have an iPad, there are many apps for communication. The better ones are not cheap but worth it. Some of the more common ones are TouchChat HD (your speech therapist can get access to a free download of the smaller version so you can try it with her) or Proloquo to Go (good for those that need access to both English and Spanish), PODD works well for children or adults with multiple challenges (check out We Speak PODD on Facebook) In Arizona, you contact you Dept of Developmental Disabilities Service Coordinator to begin the evaluation process. Hope this helps some of you to locate some resources, it is amazing what most of the children/adults can do with access to an augmentative communication device! Age 2 to 102, no one is the wrong age for help with communication.
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