978-1572305441

Sophie 179
their own thoughts. As they turned down their street, all the neighbors
came out of their houses to greet the new parents. A large banner was
hung on the oak tree of their property: “Welcome home, Sophie!” They
drank champagne, congratulated Greg and Marianne, celebrated the arrival
of a new child on the street, a playmate for all the children, who
were eager to play with Sophie. Only Sophie, at three years of age, could
not yet walk, could hardly sit up and roll over, and weighed but fifteen
pounds. The neighbors expected to see a cute pudgy baby, cooing, smiling,
and responding to adults that ogled her. Instead, Sophie shook,
made no eye contact, and steadfastly refused to acknowledge her new
neighbors.
Marianne had to learn quickly how to care for the child, who acted
like a baby, but was in fact a toddler. The multidisciplinary team at the
local child development center was very helpful. They came out to the
house and gave Marianne advice on how to stimulate Sophie, how to get
her to talk, to handle objects, move her limbs, and so on. Marianne had
to learn to change diapers to accommodate her hip dysplasia and to feed
Sophie. She could not chew solids, having been fed liquid only, so
breakfast could take over an hour. She slept a lot and, when awake,
Marianne took her outside in the fresh air. She changed her and fed her
according to routine. Greg and Marianne held her close and exercised
her limbs. She gained weight, and her motor skills seemed to develop
nicely. She stopped shaking, started to hold her head up, sit, and even
pulled herself to a standing position.
Soon Sophie went every day to the local child development center
for physiotherapy and for the opportunity to interact with other children.
Everybody was confident that love, food, and a stimulating environment
could bring her out of this predicament. But Sophie did not
reward these efforts; she disliked being hugged, she pushed Greg and
Marianne away and never looked at them. She never cried for anything
even if she were wet, hungry, or cold. To occupy herself she would crawl
over to the wall, rock back and forth, and sometimes bang her head
against the wall. She would rock in her crib or else pull herself to a
standing position and stare at the door without making a sound.
Marianne and Greg reasoned to each other that Sophie had chosen to
withdraw into her own world. It would take a long time to entice her
out of it. As the months went on, she became more and more distant,
not less so. She also started to make funny noises. After a full year in
treatment, she still was not talking, and her pediatrician wondered
whether the deprivation was indeed the cause of her delays in speech