Two of our children are 10 months apart in age, so for a little over two months every year brother and sister are the same age. It so happens that their first names are very similar as well. Not a planned thing, actually one was adopted at the age of six. The both have blue eyes and they are both quite thin. As you might imagine, this occasionally leads people who are not very familiar with our family and don’t know that one is adopted to assume that brother and sister are twins.

This assumption absolutely drives Lane crazy. Lane is very capable, articulate, and intelligent, with common sense. He began attending college at the age of 13 after clepping out of Freshman Composition and scoring a 99 percent on the college’s entrance exam called the Compass.

Lyn suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome and verbal Apraxia. She was a victim of severe neglect during her first three years of life and currently functions around a third grade or eight-year-old level.

However, she is outgoing, enjoys talking to people, and tries very hard to make friends. She is constantly trying to do things for others and would give everything away to anybody who asked. Unfortunately, like many children with fetal alcohol syndrome, she doesn’t know when to stop talking.

If she would know when to stop talking, people who don’t know her very well probably wouldn’t realize her shortcomings. That was what started the argument over who was actually the adopted child.

Lyn had totally embarrassed Lane, which caused him to blurt out that she was actually adopted. She looked the person right in the eyes and said, “No, I’m not adopted, he is.” They argued about it for a few minutes, until Lane finally stomped off in disgust.

The teenage years can be very difficult for children, as you know. They can be so easily embarrassed by the behavior of others and just want to fit in and seem normal. Lane felt bad later for identifying his sister as an adoptee. However, sometimes those with ADHD just blurt things out without thinking as well.

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