JiWang’s Change, My Greatest Comfort
I am the foster mother of Changzhou CWI Family Village NO.5 Family.
Chang JiWang, who is six years old now, is the biggest boy in our family. He suffered from right ear hearing loss. When he came to us, he was three years old, dull-looking, and his intelligence was equivalent to that of a one year old child. He seldom made any communications with us everyday. In addition, he was bad tempered and would throw away anything that was given to him. Sometimes he even hit his younger sisters without any reason. How to open JiWang’s heart and how to help him communicate with others just as the normal children and grow up like them happily, was the question that haunted me all that time.
The first method I tried was to take him outdoors to play with other children. I noticed that when JiWang came to the garden, he always stared at the top of the trees and threw the leaves into the air, with faint smile. I could almost understand how good he felt and I thought of a better way to keep him happy. I gave him some colored ribbons for him to wave. Just as I assumed, he was so happy to see the ribbons waving above. From then on, he would no longer throw anything else and losing temper was not frequent.
This success gave me a lot of encouragement. I continued to observe him in order to understand him better. I found that when JiWang looked for ribbons, he always took the same color. When I talked to him, he would always have eye contact with me. Some he would greet father when he was home after work and show him the ribbons. These phenomenons all showed that JiWang had thoughts and he could make communications with people.
I began to take every chance to talk to him, as well as body language. I often taught him how to say an animal or call a person. Although he did not give me any response, I strongly believed that that day would arrive.
Father was busy at work so he came home late sometimes, but he would make calls during day. It was a day when JiWang had been our family member for more than a year, and when he saw me picked up the phone, he suddenly said to the receiver, “Hello”. He knew that I was about to call his Dad! Dad, JiWang and I all laughed happily because of this surprise.
Seven hundred day and night has made the relationship between JiWang and I stronger and stronger. He would follow me all the time when I did chores at home; When I was busy cooking in the kitchen, he would waited aside on a chair; When I wash dishes after meal, he would hand me over my gloves. Once I noticed him showed strong interest when he saw me peeling edamame, and I showed him to peel step by step. He learned and when he successfully peeled one, he was very happy and proud. Later that day I bought him beads and asked him to string them in order to cultivate his patience. He liked stringing beads and often spent a lot of time playing with them.
Now two and a half years passed and the child who used to say only a few words is able to express himself clearly with simple but accurate words. Last year, it was my mother’s 70th birthday, I asked for a two-day leave to go back to my mother’s home. JiWang was arranged to stay at another FV family for a couple of days. That noon, JiWang refused to go with the staff from the institution whatever they said. They had to take him back and just as JiWang opened the door, he started looking for me in the house, the kitchen, the living room, the bedroom. etc. The staff called me. When JiWang heard my voice over the phone, he at once burst into tears. My heart was broken on hearing his cries. That night I hurried back after the dinner with my mother. My mother was reluctant to see me go, but I missed my children more. The next morning, when I arrived home, the first thing I saw was JiWang holding my slippers, waiting at the door, smiling. That was the warmest scenery ever in my life.
JiWang is becoming more and more outgoing now. He is making amazing changes everyday. He has rich body language and his vocabulary is enlarging day by day. I am so grateful that JiWang has brought me so much comfort and touching feelings.
