Aided by non-traditional learning methods and the support of his parents, Holt adoptee and once "waiting child" Cody Dorsey managed to conquer his learning disabilities and graduate with the distinction of "Best All-Around Senior." He is now in his first year of college.

Last week, our youngest son, Cody, started community college. There were times when I never dreamed this would happen. Cody was 5 when we adopted him from Romania. We had originally decided to adopt a child 3 years or younger, but after seeing his picture in the Holt monthly newsletter, we knew Cody was our son. We trusted God’s direction in adopting and truly felt His guidance in choosing our “waiting child.” He was a tiny, cheerful ball of energy and a joy from the first moment. Cody has never met a stranger and will talk to anyone, young or old. He is a great athlete, who draws attention everywhere he goes. He will tackle any mechanical problem and work on it until he figures it out. He is also a young man with learning disabilities. The fact that he is so gifted in other areas makes it hard for people to understand that he can't always learn using traditional methods.

We were aware that Cody did not know the common things most 5-year-old children do, like names of colors, shapes, numbers, etc. The information we received from Holt told us that he was delayed in some areas, but we were ready to do whatever it took to help him. We realized that part of the problem was language, although he learned English very quickly. I tried games and tricks, but he simply couldn't remember the names of colors. Finally my husband came up with the idea of instructing Cody to call out the color of balls as they played pool. That was our first experience with non-traditional learning methods.

We kept Cody at preschool for an extra year to prepare for kindergarten. His kindergarten teacher was a wonderful, older woman who worked with him and helped him

make it to first grade. She, like us, thought it was still a language issue. Cody's first and second grade teachers were very sweet, but inexperienced. Although they tried to help, we had difficult years. We would spend hours doing homework that should take 30 minutes. When I would question the teachers about testing for learning disabilities, they would say he was doing "about average.” Our two older children were academically gifted and seemed to absorb knowledge from the air, so it was hard for me to know what was considered “average.” Finally, Cody had an experienced third grade teacher who agreed there were problems. She ordered tests and we were actually relieved to discover that Cody has learning disabilities. Finally, we knew what was wrong and could get him the help he needed.