Malina’s Story by Corina Hunea

When Malina turned nine months old we started going to Physical Therapy at the Barlad Children’s Hospital. I was very confused and depressed. Professor Romica Damian, Malina’s Physical Therapist, helped a lot with keeping me optimistic.

A few months later a Cristi’s School opened as a therapeutic program for children with special needs at the hospital. They were working with children from orphanages, as well as children from the community. Professor Damian told me about the program and I went to speak with Tracy Pierce Woodall. I asked her to accept Malina in the program, and she told me I would have to wait until there was an opening. Two or three months later I received phone call from Professor Damian telling me to take Malina to Cristi’s School because they had an open spot.
This way, when she was about one year and seven months old, Malina began therapy with the foundation. She was a sweet baby, she just started walking (she was still falling sometimes) and she was saying only a few words such as “ta-ta” (daddy), “pa-pa” (food), “cecei” (earrings), “sosete” (socks), but I don’t think she really understood what they meant.

In the beginning I was very skeptical, I was confused, I cried all the time, I didn’t believe she would be able to learn anything. The physician we saw did not give us much hope regarding her development. Thanks to the foundation, to the programs as well as to the staff, Malina began to catch up in her development little by little. By seeing her progress, I became more optimistic, I began to want to live and help my little one. I went through very difficult moments which only parents with children with special needs and people with a big heart would understand.

Malina turned two years old. She started to play with various games and with blocks and due to the hard work of her therapists she said “MAMA” for the first time. That day is unforgettable. After that it seemed like everything came naturally, she learned a new word every few days. I remember when she was about two years and eight months old I was with her in a rehabilitation hospital and she already had about 20 or 30 words.
At three years old she could identify the members of our family, all the common objects in the house, the rooms in the house (kitchen, living room, bathroom etc.). She worked on Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), and she would take her book and show me the picture when she wanted something. This is how she began to talk better. First she used two-word sentences, then three-word sentences.
At three years and eight months old she stared going to a regular kindergarten program. She went to regular kindergarten in the morning and to the foundation in the afternoon. This program helped us a great deal; we were very lucky, both Malina as well as us, the rest of the family. We had a place to take her everyday where she would learn something new, anything, which for her was a step ahead. You can imagine the joy in our hearts when we saw she was progressing. We used to be very upset, doctors did not give us much hope she will talk; we went through times I do not want to remember.

When she was a little over three years old she could identify all the letters of the alphabet, all the colors, she could count up to 10 or 15. We were so proud of her, because when we took the bus everyday to therapy she kept talking and talking and, since she looked younger than her actual age, people were saying how smart she is for her age. This made me very happy.

Cristi’s Outreach Foundation was a gift from God for Malina and for other children with disabilities, and I say this sincerely, because I am proud of my child. She understands me when I talk to her and I understand her, she speaks fluently, in long phrases. I also like how she knows what she likes and lets me know that. For example, she tells me if she likes or does not like the clothes I give her to wear.

Around age four she learned, in therapy, to put on and take off her clothes. There have been times when I thought she will never learn to dress and undress herself. However, with the help of the staff from the foundation she learned to do this, just like she learned to do many other things.

The ABA and Speech Therapy she receives is great for her – she has lots of energy and she loves going to therapy, playing with other children, playing with games, recite poems, and now she is able to pick up things when she is at regular kindergarten. I have to admit we had problems with kindergarten in the beginning: Malina did not want to sit for very long and the teacher complained about her not listening. However, after the first year Malina got used to it, we took her to the class of another teacher, who was more patient, and little by little we got rid of the worry she will not integrate in a regular education program. She is still attending kindergarten now, and she does the best she can. But I am very happy.

I have to mention I always treated Malina like a typically developing child, even though I knew she was not at the level a normal child her age would be, but I was happy with her. I see her as a very smart child who, if she will continue to be helped at Cristi’s Outreach program, will keep progressing. I was also very happy when we went to Vaslui to the commission (once a year we have to bring her in front of a commission of specialists who evaluate her and based on her development give her a degree of handicap). I have to tell you they said she is the most developed child with Down Syndrome from Vaslui County, having the highest IQ (IQ=62) from both the children and the adults. I told them she goes to Cristi’s Outreach Foundation and they were very impressed with the effects the program had on Malina’s psychological, and probably physical, development.

I want to thank Ms. Tracy who helped our family more than anyone in Romania. I wish this foundation would continue to function and help other children with disabilities as well. I am very happy with the results this therapy had on Malina and all I ask for is for you to continue to help my little girl, because it is the only way she will get better.