 Trisha (FAS) at age 5 |
Trisha (FAS) at age 5 |
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Hi, My name is Trisha. I'm only 5 in this picture, but I'm actually 8 years
old now. This was such a cute picture of me that my mom keeps sending that
one out. The reason my mom won't send a recent picture of me is because I
started cutting my hair all the time, so I don't really take the best
pictures these days. Well, you know how it is with us kids with Fetal Alcohol
Syndrome, all those tactile problems. I kept telling my mom that my bangs
were bothering me, but she waited too long to get my hair cut and I decided
to handle it myself. I think she finally learned her lesson, because now when
I tell her that my hair is bothering me, boy she gets me in to the hair lady
real quick!
My birth mom didn't know she was pregnant with me until she was 5 months pregnant. She tried to get an abortion then, but was too far along. Since she wasn't allowed to have an abortion, she needed to find someone to adopt me. I was her 8th pregnancy. She was 38 years old. I was the first child she was giving up. While she was pregnant with me, she got fired from her job as a bartender because of the amount of alcohol she was consuming. But, that didn't happen until she was about 7 months pregnant. My adoptive mom, Jamie, Got to watch the delivery and feed me the 24 hours I was in the hospital. The doctors were concerned with me because I looked like a skeleton. However, I was allowed to leave after 24 hours and I went home with my adoptive mom and dad. Nobody knew what was wrong with me at first. Actually my mom knew that something wasn't right, but my pediatrician kept telling her that it was all in her head. He said that if she thought I was that hard to handle at this age, wait until I turned two...then he would laugh at her. It wasn't until I was almost three years old when someone told my mom about this doctor that specialized treating children who have developmental disabilities and chronic illnesses (Dr. David Hirsch, MD, Phoenix, Arizona, member of Exceptional Parents Editorial Advisory Board. He also writes the column, "Ask the Doctor"). It was then that I got my diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (along with a few others secondary disabilities that were a direct result of the FAS. He made my mom feel much better. And he believes what my mom tells him. The problems that I have are: Tactile defensive, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, ADHD, I have panic attacks, my body's temperature gage is broken, so when it's a little cold, I feel like I'm in Alaska in the winter, and when I'm a little hot, I feel like I'm in 115 degree weather, my body can't recover and I get heat sickness. I'm bipolar, I still use diapers at bed time, I like younger children, I'm angry a lot and without adult intervention I have no ability to control my frustration and I hurt myself and others frequently. I have some facial FAS features, like my eyes and my flattened nose bridge. I also have some crooked fingers and toes. I'm failure to thrive, and that means that I just can't gain weight, so at 8 years old, I only weigh 45 pounds. My parents still hand feed me so I can get the food down. It's hard for me to eat because most food feels funny in my mouth. I have a wonderful aide at school that has been with me for four years now. She really loves me and takes good care of me.
Love, Email Jamie at JamieAzAdvocate@cableone.net |
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