Mother puts dreams on hold to care for her special-needs children
Motherhood hasn’t gone as Kisha Smith expected. Her oldest child’s brain was damaged during birth. He requires constant attention, and most of her other children have ADHD.
Every once in a rare while, when Kisha Smith has a moment to herself, she dreams about being a nurse or starting the catering company that friends have been urging her to get going for more than a decade.
But Smith, a 38-year-old single mother of six, has stashed those plans because all her energy and time is focused on her children — most of whom have special needs. This year was particularly difficult, having all of them homeschooled due to COVID-19 along with the cancellation of their after-school activities.
Her oldest child, Keshon, 15, has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and autism and requires a wheelchair and 24-hour supervision. His brain was crushed during childbirth. He had brain surgeries at 1 and 3 and re
mains emotionally and physically disabled.
“Someone has to be watching Keshon all the time or he’ll hurt himself,” Smith said. “He bites his hands. He doesn’t really have motor skills. He’s a roamer and will try to get up and walk away if you leave him alone. It’s a full-time job to care for him, but he has been a blessing because he made me a more selfless person. He has a special aura about him and brings joy to everyone in our family.”
Smith’s other children — Patience (14), America
(12), Uwais (10), Qais (9), and Najmah (8) — help out with Keshon as much as they can, but they have issues of their own. All but Patience have been diagnosed with ADHD — attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Patience has become like a second mother in their Little Haiti house.
“Patience has cared for Keshon like that’s her baby,” Smith said. “She told me, `If anything happens to you, you know he’s coming with me, right?’ She is his guardian angel. She was changing his diapers when she was 2. She’s really smart, and she’s very patient, like her name. She helps with homework with all the kids now. She prepares meals and helps around the house a lot. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
Smith said she is also extremely grateful for Kidz R Kool PPEC (Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care), a Hialeah child-healthcare center whose staff has become like a second family for Keshon.
“They come pick him up, take him to therapy, doctor appointments, they have special parties for the kids, take him to the barber shop, to get Santa photos, it’s just awesome what they do for Keshon,” Smith said. “They truly are like family.”
Smith also receives assistance and guidance from Parent to Parent of Miami, a resource center serving parents of children with disabilities in MiamiDade and Monroe counties. Jeanette Cordova, the outreach coordinator at Parent to Parent, nominated Smith for the Miami Herald’s and el Nuevo Herald’s Wish Book program, which helps South Florida families in need during the holiday season.
“There are so many families that are struggling, especially during COVID, but we feel that Kisha’s family really, really needs the help,” Cordova said. “She is a very loving mother and we felt she was the perfect candidate.”
Smith was raised in Nashville, where she met the father of her three oldest children. He was a truck driver. She was working at T-Mobile and beginning to study for a nursing degree. She got pregnant with Keshon at 23 and then her life took an unexpected turn.
“Keshon got stuck in the birth canal during childbirth, and then everything got very complicated,” Smith said. “Things from that point went downhill as far as my career and focusing on myself. I had to turn all my focus to Keshon, and then later to the other children.”
The family moved to South Florida in 2014 for a fresh start, but she soon split with the father of the children. He went back to Tennessee and is not involved in their lives. The father of the other children is not around, either.
Smith, desperate for help, was referred to the late Dr. Michael Giraldi, a Kendall pediatrician who, along with his wife, founded the Possible Dream Foundation and adopted or became legal guardians of 88 children with disabilities. Giraldi died in 2016 at age 73, and Smith still mourns his loss.
“Dr. Giraldi was amazing,” Smith said. “He gave me so much information about where I could get help, opened up a lot of doors for me.”
Smith hit rock bottom in 2017 after Hurricane Irma. Her Brownsville house got water damage and was overrun with rats, so at night she and the children slept in her car.
“We would spend some time in the house during the day, but at night I wanted us to be safe from the rats, so we slept in the car,” Smith said. “That went on a few months until I was able to get different housing.”
Smith said she and the children have developed survival skills over the years, but the struggles wear on her health. She has high blood pressure and anxiety.
“I have anxiety because I don’t know what’s to come next,” said she. “I worry if there will be emergencies, whether my kids will catch COVID, whether Keshon will hit his head and get a concussion. I always have to be on edge. It’s really been a lot. I’m just praying I can get the finances and eventually a job so I can provide a better support system for my kids.”
In the meantime, she finds joy in their unique personalities.
America is funny, bubbly, “sweet as pie.” She loves watching YouTube hair and cosmetics tutorials
Uwais is her “little comedian” making everyone laugh. Qais is a singer, an “old soul,” and her most emotional child. Najmah, the youngest girl, is “my little twin, my hangout buddy.”
Her wish list for her children includes a better wheelchair for Keshon, twin beds and other children’s furniture, headphones so they can focus on their homework, bicycles, and opportunities for the kids to get back involved in activities such as karate and swimming.
HOW TO HELP
Wish Book is trying to help hundreds of families in need this year. To donate, pay securely at MiamiHerald.com/ wishbook. For information, call 305-376-2906 or email wishbook@ miamiherald.com. (The most requested items are often laptops and tablets for school, furniture, and accessible vans.)