Ana Colliton To Appear In CYT's Annie
By: Gabrielle Sierra Apr. 20, 2011
This May, Kansas City youth Ana Colliton will appear in Christian Youth Theater's (CYT) production of Annie. The story of this little orphan girl is one to which Ana can relate. Performing in this production has created opportunities for her to learn about her own life, discuss deeper issues than most people see in this story, and celebrate life through song and dance.
Ana was born in La Paz, Bolivia, a country second only to Haiti in this hemisphere in poverty. She was placed in an orphanage there for reasons her adoptive parents still don't know. The conditions in the orphanage were much more difficult than those in the Annie story due to extreme poverty in the country and the number of children given up to the orphanage each day. Because of the lack of nutrition, lack of time for the caregivers to spend with each child and because Ana had a congenital anomaly, her parents believe it was a miracle she survived at all. Through her tenacity and her inner spirit, Ana made a connection with her would-be parents who were in the country for an entirely different purpose and the parent-child bond was made, never to be broken. Ana was born with a medical condition known as right-sided microtia with atresia, which means she was born without an outer right ear and lacks an entrance into that ear for hearing. Having only one ear, her left ear, Ana experiences great difficulty hearing the spoken word in a large or noisy group setting. This can sometimes cause a sort of sensory confusion that can lead to panic in this 8-year-old girl. Due to the difficulty with hearing in her right ear and malnourishment for her first 10 months of life, Ana's language and ability to communicate was delayed. The strength of her hearing left ear and its connection with the right side of the brain may help explain her creative gifts, her ability to see the whole picture, and tendency to think deeply.Ana has been able to get much needed help in the past year through surgeries to create an outer ear made from her rib and insertion of a titanium screw to which a bone-conduction hearing aid attaches. This hearing aid has increased her ability to hear in noise to about 24% accuracy. Although her hearing can never be fully restored, through auditory-oral therapy Ana's communication improved dramatically and is now appropriate for her age. When she is in group settings or noisy environments, she utilizes a microphone and a transmitter that is worn by the teacher, director, or any individual to whom she should be listening. With the use of these devices she can increase her ability to hear the person wearing the transmitter in these settings to around 97%.
Ana's family came to CYT because of the program for kids with special needs offered there. The program, Helping to Encourage Awareness and Recognition in Theater (HEART), fully integrates kids who need extra assistance into classes, camps and musical productions, allowing them the full experience from audition to performance. After discussing Ana's special needs with Josie Strickler, the program's director, the Collitons decided to try to give their daughter the fulfillment of song and dance that is so vital in her native culture. Ana and her family were welcomed with open arms and the entire program has been blessed by Ana's spirit and accomplishments.
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