Photo: Taliah with her family at Disneyland
Posted on 14 June 2018.
San Diego Jewish World
By Janice Alper
Editor’s Note: The following story is republished from the Member Spotlight section of the Summer 2018 edition of Beth Israel Quarterly, published by Congregation Beth Israel of San Diego.
SAN DIEGO — Team Taliah started several years ago when Taliah Wendoll joined in the Rady Children’s Walk at SeaWorld. Taliah is the captain of the team.
Like most youngsters her age, Taliah, a sixth grade honor roll student at Muirlands Middle School in La Jolla, has a busy schedule – religious school and bat mitzvah preparation, Girl Scouts, golf, sailing, and ballet classes at Balboa Park twice a week. Unlike her peers, Taliah is living with CHARGE Syndrome.
CHARGE is a rare and complex genetic syndrome with multiple issues, often difficult to identify. Children with this syndrome face many challenges in the sensory areas with vision and hearing problems. They may also have digestive abnormalities and limited motor ability. To learn more about CHARGE log onto www. chargesyndrome.org
Taliah confronts her challenges – hearing loss, vision in one eye, and digestive problems compounded by a cleft palate – with a ‘take charge’ attitude, as any team captain would do. She relied on a walker to assist her in mobility until she was five and a half years old. Now she is a ballet dancer who has appeared in many productions, most recently The Nutcracker and A Midsummer’s Night Dream.
Photo: Taliah Wendoll
Taliah’s parents, Tammy and Tom, have encouraged her to take control of her life and she has been involved in making decisions regarding her education and participation in supplemental activities. When her younger twin brothers, Max and Zack, started kindergarten at Torrey Pines Elementary School, Taliah was determined to go to the same school. She transferred from Lafayette Elementary School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, where she learned to sign before she talked, and mainstreamed into the third grade. Now she is on her own in Muirlands, where she totes around an FM mic from class to class so that she can hear her teacher’s instructions. She enjoys middle school and her favorite subjects are math and social studies.
A Lee & Frank Goldberg Family Religious School retreat to Camp Mountain Chai piqued her interest in becoming a camper for two weeks last summer. Taliah, whose nourishment comes from shakes because she cannot eat solid foods, was accommodated by the staff and her bunkmates. She noticed that some other girls also had special dietary needs, some were vegetarian, and others had food allergies. Her unique diet confirmed for her that each person is special in his or her own way.
Taliah is a member of the San Diego Junior Club at the Torrey Pines Golf Course where she attends weekly clinics. After her first few lessons she noticed she could not see the ball when she hit it. She has no vision in her left eye. Always persevering, she adapted and learned to play golf left handed. Now she sometimes goes out for a round of golf with her dad and grandfather.
The Wendolls joined Beth Israel in 2011, shortly after they moved to San Diego. Taliah says it feels like home. She is an enthusiastic member of a Beth Israel Girl Scout troop. Next year she will be eligible to participate in the Madrichim program and is planning to continue her Jewish education.
Right now she is busy preparing to become a bat mitzvah on September 29 and has revitalized Team Taliah for her mitzvah project. You can learn about it from her websites, TenthAnnualCIFC.kintera.org/teamtaliah, where she is trying to bring awareness about CHARGE Syndrome and give.rchsd.org/goto/teamtaliah2018 for Taliah’s Rady Virtual Toy Drive, where she describes how a stuffed animal was always waiting on her bed when she checked into the hospital. She further explains: “In the last few years, the team at Rady Children’s has helped me learn how to walk, how to speak, how to eat and has saved my life…twice. During my bat mitzvah studies I have learned about the importance of G’milut Hasadim, which [are] acts of loving kindness. I have received lots of acts of loving kindness throughout my life and want to share this with others.”
The Mishnah tells us, “Don’t look at the flask, but what it contains.” In explaining this verse, Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson reminds us that we as observers, have an obligation “…to see the inner sparks that light a person’s soul, rather than merely glancing at the casing that holds those precious assets…”
When Taliah participated in the Rady Children’s Walk, relatives and friends donated money and cheered her on. One year she won an award for having the largest number of participants on her team to encourage her. Many wore distinctive sparkly hats and added a tag line to Team Taliah: “She brings a little sparkle wherever she goes.”
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Preceding provided by Congregation Beth Israel
Source: www.sdjewishworld.com/2018/06/14/taliah-bravely-confronts-charge-syndrome/
