Leena

Leena came into protective care at the age of 1 year after she and her older siblings (not being placed for adoption with Leena) were all hospitalized due to suspected maltreatment. Both parents had histories of drug usage and offenses. Now age 10, Leena has been diagnosed with Austism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). She is in stable health.

Leena enjoys playing sports, including soccer, skating, cycling and track and field. Social workers and caregivers describe Leena as a cheerful, talkative, helpful, friendly, and playful child who actively participates in sports and games, willingly assists younger children, and contributes to household chores. She receives occupational therapy to assist with fine motor skills, handwriting, motor coordination and other related skills. She has made good progress on finger dexterity as evidenced by her enjoyment of handicrafts—especially making bracelets and necklaces for herself and her toy bunny. She also receives speech therapy for difficulties in oral expression, limited vocabulary, simple sentence structures and restrictive narrative and reporting skills. At the same time, her listening comprehension, language fluency, and speech intelligibility are satisfactory.

Leena is self-motivated to improve but is sensitive to criticism, responds best to simple and clear instructions from trusted adults, and tends to internalize emotions rather than express them directly. She displays notable rigidity, preferring fixed routines and patterns, strict adherence to rules, and often insisting on completing tasks exactly as started or shown. Caregivers recommend that future caregivers adopt gentle, firm, and clear disciplinary approaches to support her emotional regulation and behavioral development.