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Unity, Knowledge & Empowerment

 
Amanda's Friends
 Stephanie
 

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Welcome to Katherine's Page

 

Hi my name is Camille Faulks and my special little angel is Katherine, who is 6 yrs old.  She was a twin born at 26 weeks weighing 1 lb 9 oz.  Her brother did not make it.. his lungs were not developed enough even with surfactant to survive.  She stayed (and fought) the first 4 months of her life in NICU . She was a fighter then and still is.  She had so many problems mainly related with prematurely and has ended up with Mixed CP, broncho pulmonary displasia, adult respiratory distress syndrome, and is allergic to almost everything.


She gets 2 allergy shots a week , which are helping tremendously and is getting speech, occupational, and physical therapy.   She is developmentally delayed by about 2 years and is in kindergarten this year.  She loves school and all the kids are very patient with her and never rush her to finish speaking.  Her stuttering has improved greatly but she still gets frustrated a lot.. you can just see her struggling to get a thought out and she loses her patience a lot.  She has also been tested for ADHD and has a mild case..
if you can call NEVER slowing down a mild case.

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  She started hippo therapy about 5 months ago and is loving it sooooooooo much i don't even think she realizes it is therapy. The tightness in her legs has improved so much she can run without the stiff- legged gait that so many CP kids have.  It has also improved her balance where before she could be standing and turn her head fast and fall down.  I guess we are luckier than most I have been reading about because she has not had to have any surgeries or pumps. She is in an AFO and has had to be casted twice due to low tone in her right leg. She is so normal in appearance that this is also sometimes a downfall.  She is just now starting to talk in 6 - 9 word sentences and is self conscious about talking to strangers sometimes.. we were out shopping one afternoon and one of the sales ladies was asking her what her name was and how old she was , where she went to school .. ... all the typical questions and Katherine would not answer her.. she just couldn't get it out and the lady turned to me and asked" does
she talk or what???" in a rather harsh tone.  Sometimes it is hard for me to find any sort of compassion for these people and I told her that yes she talks to people she likes and knows.  This may have been out of line but as most of you know people will ask questions but it is just the way they put it sometimes.

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Katherine loves animals and to play outside.  She likes to fish,
camp out, and ride go carts at Putt-Putt.   Her favorite color is pink and her favorite foods are turnip and collard greens (rather strange for a kid), bacon, anything with cream cheese on it and ice cream.   She is a giant fan of Rugrats and Blues Clues.  I have very little family left ; my mother (gam-ma) and my brother (who she thinks hung the moon) and they have been so supportive
and love Katherine very much.  Katherine has touched many people in many ways and everyone who has met her has fallen in  love with her.  She is a very loving, caring, and sensitive little girl that always has a smile on her face, and she has also taught me a lot about life!!

 

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