He's got personality.

Rachelle Wachman, eight, lives in Pittsburgh, PA with parents, Jill and Elliot and her siblings, Binyamin, six, Devorah, four, Avromie, three, and Chanina, four-months. She attends Yeshiva Schools where she will be in the third grade.

Mom's Turn:

Parenting a special child is a double challenge. First, there is the challenge to accept the misfortune without complaint; second to turn that misfortune into an opportunity for growth and loving kindness for the child and those around him. We truly feel that Avromie is our special gift.

The other children in our family all have a special job that they do to help with Avromie, whether it be with his feedings, turning equipment on and off, or rubbing his head when he is having a hard time. Rachelle, being the oldest, is quite a help.

Avromie has trouble communicating his needs to us, but his pure soul shines through into his ever-present irresistible smile. --Jill Wachman

My name is Rachelle Wachman and I am the oldest sister of five. I have one sister, Devorah, four, and three brothers, Binyamin, six, Chanina, four months old, and Avromie, three. Although I love all of my siblings, my second brother, Avromie is my special brother. He has encephalopathy (a brain abnormality which includes develop mental disabilities), seizures, hypotonia, a ventilator, cortical visual impairment, (visual impairment in the lens of the eye), osteoporosis, and a tracheostomy.

Avromie cannot talk and he does not move very much. He does have a wonderful smile and he is usually very happy. He loves it when I read "Winnie-the-Pooh" books to him. He also loves to play with his toy cars and crash them. When he has a seizure, I always rub his head. Even though Avromie is the second youngest, when he holds our youngest brother, Chanina, I think it makes him feel good to be the "big brother."

When we go out, and Avromie cannot join us, we have special nurses come to our house. I like them a lot because they take good care of him and make sure he is suctioned. (Suctioning of the tracheostomy is a vitally important task).

My wish for Avromie is that he will get better and be able to move around more and speak to us. He has lots of personality!