Special needs

Two-year-old Orlandus Whitson tells his mother "I love you" multiple times a day. That he would say "I love you" wasn't always a guarantee for the little boy with wide brown eyes, who's favorite word is "juice." He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 6 months old.

"He used to holler a lot," said Orlandus' mother Willie Mae Whitson. "He used to scream a lot. He used to throw stuff. Now he's come a long way."

Soon after his diagnosis, Orlandus began therapy at the United Cerebral Palsy of Northwest Alabama center in Sheffield, where he learned his affectionate language - "all the good stuff" Whitson says - and learned to climb stairs and kick balls from his former teacher Norma McDonald.

"If it wasn't for Miss Norma and the center and God, I don't know what I'd do," Whitson said.

"He's happy as a lark," McDonald said. "We played and had fun. Still do."

Whitson is one of five children with a disability who attends the center and will be featured in the annual United Cerebral Palsy of Northwest Alabama telethon. David Marks, Angel Reporto, Chandler Thompson and Jakarius Ziegler are the other children to be included on the program.

The telethon, which airs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday on The Valley's W, will include performances by the Mars Hill Bible School Ensemble. Radio veterans Jerry Knight and Sherry Clark will emcee the event at the center in Sheffield and auction a lease on a 2008 silver Ford Fusion. UCP hopes to raise $125,000 this year after missing the same goal in 2007, said executive director Alison Isbell.

Isbell, who is participating in her 13th telethon, said community support keeps the telethon alive.

"Every year it's overwhelming ... from little kids who get money out of their pocket books (to give), to car washes," she said

All money raised goes toward physical, speech and occupational therapy at the center or for babysitters for parents who want a night out.

Cerebral palsy stems from brain injury or abnormal brain growth and can cause problems with body movement, posture and speech. Cases range from mild to severe.

Jakarius Ziegler, like Orlandus, used to have speech problems.

Now the 2-year-old has been bitten by the musical bug.

"He really likes musical toys," said his mother, LaDonna Andrews. "Any kind of music."

In September of 2007, Jakarius started going to the center for hand-eye coordination and speech therapy to speed up his developmental delay. "I didn't know what to think at first," Andrews said. "But eventually, it started to set in on me."

Melissa Thompson had a similar experience when her son, Chandler, started going to the center for his developmental delay. She always watched the telethon on TV and even attended some of them. So when she was approached about her son being on TV, she was elated.

"We are 100 percent for it," she said. "We never actually thought we'd have a child go over there. We love them to death," she said about the teachers at the UCP center.

When Thompson saw her son walk for the first time, after months of practice on a miniature treadmill, she cried. "I said now we can't keep him off anything," she said, laughing.

Leslie Marks, mother of 2 1/2-year-old David who was diagnosed with developmental delay, hopes parents watching the telethon take away one thing.

"I would like to see everyone work with their kids if they can, because some parents don't take the time with them," she said.

"I really hope they look at it as the kids are no different than any other child," Andrews said. "They just have special needs."

Whitson said she thinks her son is in caring hands at the cerebral palsy center.

"In most places, if you ain't got love, you ain't got nothing any way," she said.

Jennifer Crossley can be reached at 740-5743 or jennifer.crossley@timesdaily.com.