Jennifer was born three months prematurely due to her mothers’ complicated pregnancy, directed by pre-clamps and a kidney infection a month before giving birth. Jennifer was hospitalized for three months, with congenital heart disease and was in need of heart surgery. She was discharged from the hospital three months later, when her parents soon discovered that she Vass deaf, had orthopedic problems and, by the age of three, was extremely hyperactive, restless and destructive.
She was also being treated as a post- rubella hearing-impaired child. A Diagnostic Center report stated that Jennifer, at age five, was non-verbal and did not respond to fertilization. Jennifer had help from her parents and attended many treatment programs, to assist her development. By the age of seven years and eight months, after many evaluations by an audiologist and psychologist, Jennifer had certainly made wonderful improvements; she was being referred to a normal classroom for deaf children so that her current level Of development could increase.
Snifter’s parents experienced further unanticipated problems in terms of her nurturing. They discovered that their child had to be cared for and be dependent on them for the rest of her life, Jennifer Harris was born with a birth weight of BBS. Z a “Preemie”. Deafness was suspected early in her life, for which she was evaluated four times until the age of three, There were some disagreements as to whether her hearing problem was to cerebral origin or of peripheral origin. Jennifer was unable to walk until the age oft and there was no speech development at the age to five.
In addition, Jennifer had cardiac and orthopedic problems. As Jennifer grew, both of her parents managed her in very different ways. Her father pursued a degree in psychology to learn more about what his daughter was experiencing, Her mother always new Jennifer not retarded, even though certain doctors claimed she was. Both mother and father believed that Jennifer could accomplish more of what doctors expected of her. Jennifer at the age of six attended a behavior modification program, primarily for autistic children.
Jennifer was not autistic, but she certainly had some autistic like behaviors Rocking in motion, fascination with lights). The specialized teacher of the behavior modification program enhanced Snifter’s achievements and felt that she could improve in her social and responsive skills in a faster pace. Even though Jennifer Harris had many complications after being born, she overcame many of those obstacles. Jennifer was toilet trained by her father through a behavior modification technique called the reward method. He also taught her how to go to the bathroom by herself without asking.
Jennifer had Speech harpy sessions on Monday through Thursday and occupational therapy on Fridays. Jennifer soon began to learn simple sign language and to lip-read, She was labeled as a multi-handicapped because she avgas incapable of doing many tasks on her own _ She attended a behavior modification program for children that helped her sign language and vocabulary development a lot more. Eventually, Jennifer was able to acquire and apply certain tasks on her Own. The level of Snifter’s comprehension was excellent and she had good computation skills. In addition, her vocabulary and social play increased.
Jennifer was soon capable of having a descriptive conversation. This Book is a great inspiration to all parents struggling to get a clear diagnosis Of their child’s disabilities. Not everything in life is set and clear. There are many struggles that Snifter’s parents experienced to figure out exactly why their daughter behaved the way she did. Not all psychologists or audiologists can give a solid diagnosis for certain children that are multi-handicapped. Snifter’s parents never stopped teaching, caring and loving Jennifer, in spite of her disabilities.
