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| Johanna Anderson |
Hello to all of Bill's readers! My name is Johanna Anderson, and I'm Bill's wife. While Bill mans the bunkers in the war on economic heresies, I spend my days at home, home schooling Sintija, driving our children around to their activities, doing laundry or performing some other such exhalted task.
Unlike Bill, I don't have the personality to be "The voice crying out in the wilderness" of injustice. I tend not to involve myself in battles that extend much past the front of my nose. I understand that this is, in a sense, to my shame,because there is a world of evil to be confronted and subdued. My philosophy, however, tends to be to just try to love the person standing in front of me with the strength that God provides. If I go to bed feeling that I have done this, I'm okay with my inability to right wrongs on a global scale!
Many of you became familiar with our family beyond Bill last year when we were adopting our daughter, Sintija, from Latvia.
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| Sintija Anderson |
Your generous donations enabled us to make Sintija part of our family at age 13, after more than 12 years in an orphanage. We are so grateful for your help. You enabled us to change the life story of a girl who easily could have been forced to turn to prostitution at age 18. We really could not have done it without you.
A New Situation. It is with some trepidation that we presume to ask you for help again, as we find ourselves in another situation that makes a fund raising campaign necessary. Our 12 year old daughter, Sasha, needs intensive therapy to treat Reactive Attachment Disorder. This therapy is not covered by insurance, but Sasha desperately needs it if she is to be able to function optimally as an adult. The following video tells the facts about RAD:
Learn about Attachment Disorder.
What is Reactive Attachment Disorder?
Reactive attachment disorder, or RAD, is an emotional disturbance that frequently occurs in children have been neglected or abused during part or all of the first three years of life.
Normally, when an infant cries, a healthy caregiver will respond to that baby’s cries by feeding, cuddling, and nurturing the child. A pattern is established in which the child makes his caregiver aware of his needs, the need is met, and the baby develops a sense of security that enables him to establish a bond of trust.
In the absence of consistent care, when babies’ physical or emotional needs are not met, the baby develops a sense of terror and of fundamental distrust. She develops the sense that she is, essentially, all alone in the world, and that she must meet her own needs in whatever way she can.
People then are seen as objects to be manipulated in order for the child to get her wants and/or needs met, without any emotional engagement on the part of the child. The child feels that it’s “me against the world” and has the sense that she is justified in doing whatever she can to get what she wants or needs.
Such a child becomes a master manipulator with little or no conscience. Life without a developed conscience has many ramifications for childhood and beyond.
Nancy Thomas, one of the country's foremost experts on RAD, further explains the scope and span of this disorder: http://www.attachment.org/pages_what_is_rad.php
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| Sasha Anderson |
We have sought help for Sasha in the past at the Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio. The therapists with whom we worked were on the right path with Sasha, but the short duration of the treatment limited its effectiveness.
The treatment program we are now seeking for Sasha has been strongly recommended by Nancy Thomas. Its name is A Heart's Work, and mercifully, it is located near Annapolis, Maryland, only three and a half hours away from our home.
A Heart's Work specializes in the treatment of RAD. Sasha's therapy will involve living on the premises for 6-10 weeks, during which time I, as Mom, will be intimately involved in treatment. After the on-site phase, Sasha will re-integrate into our home, with A Heart's Work's therapy team doing in-home visits with the whole family. Telephone consultations and Skying will also play a big role. Bill and I are also beginning couples therapy so that we can learn how to better parent as a team.
We need your help! As motivated as we are to help our daughter, we simply do not have the financial resources to fund her therapy. Although Bill has a good job at Frostburg State University, we have spent an estimated $75,000.00 on our children's adoptions. We have used all of our savings and have taken out loans, in addition to the money we raised through donations and grants.
We are also still paying off the student loans from Bill's and my graduate studies. My master's degree is in counseling, and I use my training every day, in an informal sense. However, Sintija is at a stage in her life that makes home schooling a necessity, so I am not able to get a job to help out with our expenses.
Bill and I do not like being in a position to have to ask for money. Doing so goes against the grain of our upbringings, in which we were taught to work hard and not ask for help. However, the uniqueness of our situation as parents to four special needs children requires that we lay aside our pride and admit that we can't do it all alone.
Please donate to our fund raising campaign for Sasha at www.thepoint.com. Your support will mean a brighter future for Sasha, and for every person whom her life touches.
Thank you!
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| The Anderson Children--front: Habtamu, Alex, Sasha back: Sintija |
