MEDICAL DESCRIPTION
- Cleft lip or palate is not caused by something the mother or father did or did not do. In the normal course of development, structures simply do not close.
- Children with cleft lip/palate may have difficulty speaking clearly or may sound as if they are speaking through the nose.
- Children with cleft lip/palate may have difficulty eating. Food may come through the nose.
- Children with cleft lip/palate may have frequent middle ear infections and may tend to have dental cavities.
TREATMENT
- Cleft lip/palate may be surgically corrected.
- Middle ear infections should be treated by a physician.
- Speech therapy may help the child to speak more clearly.
- Good brushing of the teeth is very important.
SPEECH
- Reward a child for trying to speak.
- Look directly at the child when you speak so he may see how your lips and tongue move to produce sounds. Make sounds clear and precise. Practice simple words together.
- Play copycat games. For example, have the child imitate or copy what you say.
- Blow bubbles, whistles or horns. Hold a tissue and try to make it move by blowing.
FEEDING/SWALLOWING
- The child should be in an upright position.
- If food comes out of the nose, the child should be seated upright, chin tucked toward chest, shoulders pulled forward.
- The child should be fed thick foods (such as thicker congee) that is chilled or room temperature.
- A child should use a cup with a side cut out. The head should not tilt back to take sips.
- A specially designed bottle may be needed. If a special bottle is not available, use a squeezable bottle with an orthodontic nipple and cut a larger “X” hole.
QUESTIONS?
Inquiry coordinators are available at 1-800-214-6719, or by email at info@allgodschildren.org.
*Medical information courtesy of LoveWithoutBoundaries.com
Testimonials
SCHAFBUCH FAMILY
“When we started our journey to adopt a child we really had no idea where to turn. Through God’s leading He brought us to AGCI. I cannot say enough about AGCI. Through the entire adoption process they were very informative, helpful and courteous. They truly have a desire to serve the King. Many wonderful children know they are loved and cared for because of AGCI’s commitment to the orphan. We would not hesitate to recommend AGCI to anybody considering adoption.”
HUSON FAMILY
“Our adoption journey is one of many blessings. When we started our adoption process in November 2009, we were fearful of the financial process. As we trekked along the adoption road, God blessed us by closing doors when we were in the wrong country (Bulgaria) and opened the door widely when to Ethiopia. Once we awakened to Ethiopia and moved forward, the doors flew open. We had people come beside us and help finance our adoption which definitely was a God thing. When we started we had no idea how we would fund the adoption but KNEW we had to move forward. In April of 2009, we were placed on the waiting list for a special needs child: boy or a girl age 0-36 months or a sibling group from 0-5 years old, 2 or 3 children. The waiting was so hard and at times we thought the wait was going to take forever and we were discouraged. We knew the only way we would make it through this long hard journey was to focus our eyes on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and that is what we did and He carried us through.
On October 28, 2010 we were contacted by Brandi Ware, our amazing case manager at AGCI, and she asked if we had a minute to visit. I couldn’t believe what she had to tell us next: “I have a little girl I’d like to talk to you about,” Brandi explained. We were shocked; we were number 4 on the boys’ list and 16 on the girls’ list when we contacted. We waited anxiously for each word she had to tell us about our precious little girl. Our daughter was 13 months old, weighed 15 lbs, 26 inches tall, had a cleft lip and palate, was Hep B+, couldn’t walk, just started sitting up, and could possibly be deaf. We received all the negative information first and then she sent us pictures and her medical reports. She asked that we pray about it before we make a decision and call her the next business day.
We saw our daughter’s face and knew she was ours. God ordained this child as ours before time began and we are so grateful. We called Brandi the next business day and told her that she is absolutely our daughter and we wanted to move as fast as we could to get our sick baby home. We showed off our daughter’s picture to everyone we knew and asked for prayers. We wanted our friends and family to join us in praying for our precious baby girl who needed healing for physical needs and her sweet broken heart.
On February 25, 2011 we landed in our home town with a crowd of friends and family cheering us on as we walked through the doors of the airport. They were so happy for us and our little girl and we were thrilled to finally be a family of five. The reunion with our kiddos at home was beautiful and they immediately fell in love with their baby sister. We hurried home to start our few days cocooning process and tried to get ourselves ready for our baby girl’s first doctor’s appointment.
On March 2, 2011 we brought Macie to her first doctor’s appointment in the United States where they did many tests on her. All of her blood work came back great and, by the grace of God, all of her test results came back negative. NO HEP B!!! She was clear, but we still had a long road ahead of us. Our little peanut was underweight, way below average in height, and her hearing was better than we thought but not great.
We began treatment for her cleft lip and palate, tubes for her ears and speech and occupational therapy. She is hearing at 80 percent in one ear and 100 percent in the other ear. Macie is right where she needs to be in height and weight: she can run, walk, talk, do sign language and will be dismissed from early childhood education program because she is on track now with peers her own age.
She is an amazing gift from God and we would absolutely adopt a special needs child again. The road is bumpy and full of turns but oh the journey is beautiful. Take a leap of faith, adopt a special needs kiddo—-JUMP!!! God will catch you and help you fly. All the miracles in our story are due to God and we want all the glory to go to Him, where it belongs.
