A.U

So I have been taking Alex to the computer lab every day this week but I think he needs a seperate entry. Basically his face and head are all that he can intentionally control. He is fully capable he just cannot speak. He can't walk but he can flail arms and legs around a bit. He is in a wheelchair. . he speaks with his eyes so if he wants something he will look from you to the object you to the object. He can nod and shake his head and often if you say no or you cant or dont know what he is trying to say he will make a frown face. If you ask him to show you an emotion he can make that facial expression.. like "show me sad", "show me proud", "show me angry". Today, I saw him in the morning but then he has school until about 11 am or so.. When he first saw me he got really excited and signaled towards the door. I told him we would play at 11 am and he smiled and stopped signalling. In the computer lab he did math and counting today. I dont know what the deal was but he was having a really hard time. It does not help that I speak very little romanian. After a couple of exercises we let him play the memory game as a reward. He had found all of the pairs except one.. he knew that once he flipped over the last card we would go so he kept messing up on purpose to drag it out. He is smart and you can tell through his manipulation. It is so hard to be stern when you are like wow... clever! and also when I dont know how to give an ultimatum in Romanian haha.

As I mentioned before, there is a BYU student who worked a lot with A.U. I emailed him but have not yet heard back. In our apartment, there are these massive binders, one for each room. In the binders are write ups from all the past interns about the children in the rooms. A.U's "file" is very extensive as he has been in the hospital since he was 2 years old. The problem is, the most detailed write ups are 6 or so years old. I am a little frustrated that none of the interns in the recent years have been working with him because I see a lot of potential in him, and so does the orphanage staff. He goes to school every day. They told me I could come with him to see what he is learning and I am thinking that it would be so helpful. Then I can help him study the curriculum and this will also help improve my Romanian! I understand it is very difficult to describe a child's needs and wants over email (if Robby contacted me) so hopefully going to school with him will help me.