Although my 28 years of experience as a caregiver has been almost exclusively with disabled adults and the elderly, I have had the privilege of spending several years with Alosha, a Russian orphan who was adopted by a Santa Barbara woman when Alosha was 4 years old. He is pictured with me on this page as well as on the home page of this web site. Alosha is fairly well known in the Santa Barbara community and was the subject of a three part article in the July, August and September 1999 issues of Family Life magazine entitled "From Russia With Love".

Alosha was born with legs that were fixed in a kneeling position. He walked on his knees until he was about eight years old. When attempts to straighten Alosha's legs out by physicians at Shriners' and Children's Hospital failed, they were left with no alternative but to amputate both legs through the knees. Alosha has walked and run with the aid of prosthetic legs ever since. I produced a video that was instrumental in securing him a corporate sponsor, who supplied Alosha with more advanced prosthetic legs.

If you or a loved one has a special needs child or any child for that matter, in need of a caregiver, I hope that you will consider me or one of many highly qualified caregivers and nannies in my network.