Quote:
|
Originally Posted by DoreenG
RJen...
I am in the process of adopting a boy, aged 5, with (IMHO) significant eye issues.
He's undergone 2 surgeries for this, yet there was never any followup of glasses, so the surgeries were "worthless" (quote from my ped opthalmologist I took a 10 min video to here where I live).
Anyway, I don't think my boy is a favorite, he's very thin...I have personal feelings on what prompted his surgeries, but no facts. Are there "middle of the road" kids that aren't really treated poorly? Or am I deluding myself on this, as my son's eyes are absolutely crossed now, and were very much worse 1 year ago...would he be shamed over this constantly? Or if he was a favorite, would it be overlooked?
|
Obviously I'm not a doctor, but I have seen several kids with crossed eyes/weak vision in Russia - corrective surgery has rarely helped. I say this not only in regards to kids in an orphanage - one of my English students also had to have corrective surgery on her eyes; however it didn't help like it was supposed to. They said it was because their equipment was faulty at the hospital...??? Anyway, I talked this issue over with a doctor of mine here in the states when I was back last year, and he was pretty confident that with treatment here in the states most problems could be corrected/helped.
It's hard to say whether he'd be 'shamed' for this or not. To be honest, this is one of the things that has shocked me - one of our girls is cross-eyed, and though she's been in our orphanage since first grade (she's now in 8th), and I've been there for 3 years, I've never heard anyone make fun of her or even bring it up.
Another girl has very weak vision - they seem more accomadating than shaming to her.
Actually now that I think about it, it's really interesting. Most kids aren't shamed for their physical disabilities - one of our boys has a club foot, but nobody ever even brings it up. Over half of our kids have scoliosis; several have it very severely, but the teachers and caretakers don't point it out, nor do they ever make fun of them.
As I think about it - mostly kids are shamed for their mental abilities or disabilities, their behavior, their scholastic ability, or their performance in a specific area.
As for him being 'really skinny' - when they're old enough to run around and burn off their energy, most kids in orphanages are 'really skinny'. Compared to Americans, almost all Russian kids, in orphanages or otherwise, are really skinny. I wouldn't worry too much - unless his orphanage is a very poor one, he's probably doing pretty good.
Hope that helped!
-RussianJen <><