What's wrong with him?

by Terri White

The Cherab Foundation gratefully acknowledges permission to print “What’s wrong with him?” from the author, Terri White. We look forward adding more of her humorous stories to this website.

When Andrew was a toddler – he had no understandable speech. When he saw something that struck his fancy (like ceiling fans) he would tense his entire body, staring at it, and yell something… He enjoyed watching stuff like that, and since he was also a very large 3-year-old – people couldn’t figure it out.

So – when someone asked that question “What’s wrong with him?,” I usually said something like “Oh – sorry about that – he’s learning his fifth language….let’s see, I think he’s learning Swahili this week.” Then I’d listen to Andrew for a while, nod my head to him and say “Yes – he’s commenting on the aerodynamic styling and it’s functionality in this setting seems appropriate.”

It made it easier for me to deal with….. It was harder when someone said, “Why doesn’t he talk?” (Boy, how I wish I knew the answer to that one!)