Julia has been diagnosed with autism, speech and developmental delays. Since receiving rehabilitation services at her preschool, she has now met her gross motor skill goals. She has good fine motor skills, including wonderful handwriting for a 5-year-old. Her speech has improved since starting preschool and especially since receiving speech therapy. She can now express her thoughts, wants and needs in complete coherent sentences, and her social skills are improving as well.
Julia was in the same foster home from the time she was 21 months old until September 2024 when her foster mother could no longer care for her due to personal reasons unrelated to Julia. Julia was used to going to respite care and that has helped her ability to settle into her new foster home. She has expressed her care for her new foster mother by telling her “Auntie, I like you very much” and has been able to show affection to the new foster mother. She has also felt able to share her opinions and concerns with the new foster mother such as when she felt the assistant caregiver was not treating her the same as another child.
Symptoms of autism have been mild as Julia is a lovely, cheerful, friendly and talkative child. She can be stubborn at times. She has a tendency to be repetitive in her play such as writing the numbers 1 to 10 repeatedly. She also shows so egocentrism, as well as a lack of concern for others. For example, during a social worker visit, the foster mother accidentally fell from her chair and Julia did not show any concern about this matter. On the other hand, she reciprocates the love and concern that the foster mother shows her at bedtime. She enjoys playing with her foster mother, and also has a good relationship with her foster father.
Due to the country’s unique child/family matching process, a family with a valid home study for any country can be considered for this child. The agency will need to review the country’s process as well as ensure the home study agency is willing to complete additional paperwork needed by the country. It is important to note the agency does not match children and families in this country, but rather submits a family’s information for consideration if they meet eligibility to be submitted.
