Garreth is one of these children. He has both Down syndrome and hydrocephalus. He has had surgery for the hydrocephalus, but will certainly need that to be followed up on as he grows. He is 3.5 years old:
His file says:
When an adult appears, Garreth looks at them and maintains eye contact for several seconds. He smiles when jested. He stands when put in a walker. He holds his head upright stably. He remains seated when provided with a stable support. He grabs and plays with toys when they are placed close to him so that he does not have to put much effort in reaching them. His speech activity is at a stage of producing sound combinations and sometimes syllables.
Can you see yourself loving this adorable boy and helping him reach his potential?
I was so relieved to see this guy on MFFM. I always worry about the boys who are more cognitively delayed. They have three strikes against them in the adoption world: first for having Ds, then for being male, and then for not being as "high-functioning" (hate this term) as other kids with Ds their same age. It's great to see adorable babies getting adopted, but what about the kids who are older (at only three!), with more complex needs? What about the kids who aren't so photogenic, or have unflattering profile pictures? This is one of my many concerns about adoption photolistings...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, got a bit off-topic. tl;dr: I'm really glad Garreth is getting a family. :)