Update Jan 2015: Quint is an adorable little guy. He appears to have cerebral palsy and possible other delays. He can sit up on his own and scoots all over the place. Quint can stand unassisted and has recently started walking on his own. He is very proud of this new skill and practices it often, although scooting is still his primary choice. Quint tends to grab at anything he is close to, whether this is a toy, grass or someone else’s clothing. He will hold on tight, and sometimes put the object he finds in his mouth. Quint currently has trouble making eye contact, but he still loves to interact and play. He is non-verbal, but can often be heard making loud noises as he plays, by himself or with others. These noises are sometimes an expression of frustration and sometimes indicate joy. Quint loves to be tickled and get kisses!

Update Feb 2018: Quint has become quite mobile and is very steady walking, sometimes even trying to run. He hasn’t figured out the pedals, but loves to scoot around on his tricycle. While he still puts everything in his mouth, he does know the difference between food and other things and will always take it back out if it’s not food. He is learning to feed himself and does pretty well with a fork and is getting better with a spoon. He also holds his own sippy cup. We have been working on using the toilet and he still urinated mostly in his diaper but has many bowel movements on the toilet. His problems with making eye contact have greatly improved and he has been able to make some strong connections and attachments. He loves to cuddle and hold hands. One thing he struggles with is sleeping through the night, which has gotten a little better since he started taking melatonin but he’s still a pretty early riser!

Update Nov 2021:   Carlton is a 13 year old boy with cerebral palsy. He is smart, mischevious and always keeping everyone around him entertained!

Carlton can move his wheelchair independently with his one good arm, or can turn around and go backwards using his feet to push (and looking backwards where he is going). He uses a gait trainer to run/walk, and when he is not in one of those he is always scooting or crawling on the floor. He can get in and out of his wheelchair, bed, and shower by himself.

Right now Carlton gets fed by an adult with a spoon. He can put food in his mouth with a fork if you put the food on the fork for him. He can pick up and drink his water by himself. He is a very fast eater, it might take him 5 minutes to eat his whole big bowl of food if it’s something he really likes. He is not a picky eater at all, and can eat all textures but does seem to prefer things that are softer like oatmeal or spaghetti.

Carlton  uses an iPad and a cookie sheet with magnetic letters/numbers/words in school to answer questions and do his work. He is very good at showing people what he wants by pointing to things and “grunting”. He just got an iPad all to himself so will start to use that at home too to communicate!

Carlton picks up on things extremely quickly! He had never worked on reading before, but one day about 6 months into going to school when he was 9 I realized he could read and rearrange letters on a cookie sheet to spell words in creole! After that he needed very little help to learn to read English. He is currently working on about a 6th grade level curriculum and learning algebra so that he has something to challenge him. He has a short attention span and needs to be reminded to stay on task quite often. He has a very low-tech “keyboard” which is just some papers that we can fit all the letters on and he can reach easily with his motor skills and he can type maybe one word at a time in response to a question now. He uses his left hand which he can move a lot less for school activities because when he uses his right hand he tends to get excited and not have as much control when touching answers.

Carlton needs help brushing his teeth, changing, and eating right now. He currently wears cloth diapers but tells us when he needs to be changed and goes down the hall to his room to get his pants and bring them to an adult.  Carlton is extremely healthy. In the almost 4 years I’ve known him he has only had a cold once. He used to have some halitosis but that has improved immensely.

Carlton has a lot of attention seeking behaviors. He plays on a much younger level than a 13 year old. He is always so excited to play with everyone, and receive attention from his friends or adults he loves. Carlton is extremely joyful and excitable! He needs lots of reminders to be gentle because he can get overexcited very easily.

Carlton likes to do anything that you are doing!  He likes helping when he receives a lot of encouragement and hanging out with his friends, foster parent, and nannies. His most favorite activities are singing, dancing, playing in the water at a pool/beach/sprinkler, going for walks in a stroller or his gait trainer, jumping and doing tricks on the trampoline, going for bike rides in his bike trailer, pushing his friends on swings, and chasing people.
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Update August 2019: Carlton has taught himself to read in Creole, and needed very little help learning to read in English. He can do multi-step word problems inside his head. Although school is very easy for him, he is not very motivated to do his schoolwork or find different ways to communicate. He has shown a little interest in a keyboard to type out words, but mostly he prefers to communicate what he wants with signs, gestures, and noises. He loves one on one attention but can also play quietly by himself if he is not competing for attention.

He can get in and out of his chair and bed by himself, and can independently move around in his wheelchair. He wears diapers and still needs help with eating. There is a very funny video of some things Carlton can do if you would like to see more

Update October 2022: Breckin is a happy, silly, 11 year old with CP, sensory processing difficulties, and epilepsy well controlled with medication. He LOVES any sort of 1:1 time with his favorite people and lights up the whole room with his smile and laugh when he sees someone he loves. He gives the best hugs, if it were up to him he would be hugging someone 100% of the day! When he is super happy (most of the time) he has a happy dance that he does with a high pitched laugh. He recently started standing in a stander and walking with a gait trainer and has made so much improvement already! His favorite things are any 1:1 time, singing, school, being bounced around on the trampoline, swimming or any water play, going for bike rides in a bike trailor, playing with shaving cream, and cuddling. He can get out of and into chairs well by himself and likes to scoot around on the floor. Most of the time he scoots himself over to get up on the couch or to look in the wall mirror. He loves his caregivers so much and has so much love to give to his future family! He needs help with putting food into his mouth but can hold his water when he drinks independently. He can help putting his limbs through shirts and pants but needs help getting dressed fully. He is in diapers at the moment. He used to bang his head a lot out of boredom and habit, but when he is engaged or in a chair/stander that is more difficult to hit his head against anything he likes to stim by shaking his head around, putting his hands in his mouth, or grinding his teeth. He listens when told to take his hands out of his mouth and can easily be redirected if he is self stimming inappropriately. Videos on request!

Update July 2020: Breckin is such a fun kid who loves hugs and one on one interaction. If you go in for a hug, be ready to stay awhile because he will want to hold you there. He can currently hold his own bottle to drink on his own. He is spending more time in a walker in therapy. He needs encouragement in it, but is getting better. He will walk with you with support for a little ways as well. With more intense therapy, he would really excel in this area. He loves it when his caregivers sing his favorite songs. He really likes hymns as well as the Goodnight Song sung in his house.

Update Jan 2015: Breckin has cerebral palsy, but he can sit up and stand with assistance. He can even take a few steps if you hold onto his hands. He has been receiving regular therapy and loves this time. Breckin is making great improvements – he now has a modified crawl that he uses to get all around his house and can quickly move to wherever he wants to be. He can also pull himself up to stand and does this often. Breckin does not yet feed himself, but he has practiced holding his own spoon and sippy cup and has made great progress. Breckin is a happy little guy who loves to play.