Christopher C. is a six-year-old Hispanic boy that came into my family’s life in 2017 when he was just seventeen months old. In February 2019, we adopted him; he was officially my brother, though I always saw him as my brother. Chris is a nonverbal autistic kid that is in first grade. He loves to run, chew, and watch Youtube kids. He can't stay still for too long. Movement gets his energy out and entertains him. He tends to move more when he is excited. It is his way of stimming, repetitive physical movement, or vocalizations to calm themselves or express their intense feelings. Autistic and other neurodivergent people usually stim.

Chris is in a special education class with around five other students. His teachers help him communicate without having to talk. The school provides a tablet for him that has an app that can be used to communicate with others. He can ask for things like drinks, snacks, and cartoons. He can also count, organize, and spell his name with the device. It has been the best way for him to communicate with us. Sign language did not work out. The only sign he retained is ‘more’. Without his device, he becomes frustrated that we do not understand what he wants. It also frustrates us because we do not know how to help him.

Chris is a vulnerable child because of his disabilities and background. Before my family started fostering him, he was left unattended. His mother was too ‘busy’ abusing drugs to take care of one of her many children. He was left at his aunt’s and grandma’s house where he was also unattended. All day he would eat and watch whatever was on TV. Nobody would come if he cried so he stopped crying altogether. For hours at a time, he would sit in a used diaper.

Around midnight on a July morning, the police were called to a bridge where a child was left behind by his mother. A homeless man eventually called the police and CPS accompanied them. Chris was that child. He was only wearing a diaper that was full of his urine and feces. CPS took custody of him and brought him to the nearest hospital. 

Chris did not cry. He went to anybody that was there. He was used to being passed around from person to person to be taken care of. He grew no attachment because no one was consistent in his life. While in the hospital, he was given a general check-up, bloodwork, and food. To his luck, he was healthy and had no drugs in his system. There was no record of his existence. He was born in a barn so therefore he had no birth certificate or medical records.

CPS searched through their system to see available foster homes for Chris. My family was fortunate enough to be chosen. In the middle of the night, my parents got a call that he was being brought over. They dropped him off and he has been with us ever since. Hours later I woke up and met Chris. All of our lives changed that day, especially Chris's. Throughout the years of living with us, Chris has grown and improved but he still deals with challenges from his past life. 

Food is an issue for him because he never had a consistent food source before living with us. To this day, he binge eats unless we take the food away. If we let him eat as much as he wanted, he would eat till he threw up and then eat more. 

Children may be the most vulnerable but they are the strongest because they keep going. They do not know any other way. Children adapt to what is happening around them and keep going. They do not give up. Chris did not give up.