Manish Needs our Help!

In dedication to Children's Day, which we celebrate here in India on Sunday, we would like to talk about a very special child here at our orphanage. Manish has had a difficult time adjusting to his new life with us here, but he has made some amazing improvements since he first came a few months ago. He is the youngest of two, and they come from a state called Orissa, where Oriya, quite different from Hindi, is spoken. When he came to the orphanage, his elder brother, Anish, had picked up some more Hindi than Manish did, and he adjusted very well from the beginning. But Manish, just about four or five years old, could not communicate with anyone, as nobody understood Oriya. On top of his frustration with no one being able to properly communicate with him, Manish shows signs of hyperactivity and lacks concentration. When any of the other children take a crayon away from him, or slightly bother him, he becomes infuriated and is quite difficult to calm down. With the language barrier we all have with Manish, it only makes him more frustrated that when people try to calm him down he doesn't understand what they say, and that we cannot understand his language. After getting used to his nature, we have all adjusted ourselves gradually to find ways to keep him happy, yet setting boundaries as well. He has become very well-behaved, and is slowly picking up the language, as he is able to communicate one-word fragments in Hindi, which we manage to understand. His understanding of the language has immensely improved, as he is around other children and parents who are only speaking in Hindi, rather than in Oriya. I wanted to write about Manish today because I feel that there is so much more that we can do for him. Here in India we do not have many people who specialize in behavioral disorders such as ADHD, if he even does display such type of behavior, or the few that we have are far too expensive for us to offer him. I am writing this blog to reach out to anyone who has, or knows anyone who has, any specialty in working with or teaching hyperactive children, as we really want to learn about how to best help Manish with his difficulties. You are welcome to come and volunteer with us, as Manish really needs all of our support. Thank you, and I wish everyone a Happy Children's Day from us at Aim Abroad!
http://www.aimabroad.org