Other Special Needs Girls, 6-9

Mila turns her head towards sound and looks at people and objects of interest. She recognizes the faces of the staff. She can roll over, but still has difficulty with head control. She enjoys musical toys that spin and will focus on those for short periods of time.

Maggie is a precious little one. She arrived at the orphanage when she was about 6 months old; a frail and quiet baby girl. She was found to have a cleft lip and palate, CHD (PDA), and the ring finger and middle finger of her left hand fused. She had the lip surgery in 2014, but no palate surgery yet, to our knowledge. Her heart defect, Patent Ductus Arteriosus, is not at all uncommon. An x-ray of her hand showed mostly adhesion of the adjacent skin of the two fingers. Maggie has delays of both motor skills and speech. It is difficult to say if the delays are due to her known medical issues (plus unknown care for her first 6 months), or if there may be another cause. We do know Maggie needs help. She needs a family to love her unconditionally, and medical care plus therapies to help her reach her full potential. Maggie needs a family.

When Minerva came she looked petite and weak, and was hospitalized for care and surgery. She has delayed physical development compared with children of her age, but after the operation her physical health is fairly stable and her motor ability improves day by day. She is able to raise her head when lying on stomach, and turn over continuously. She likes to roll over to and fro on the mat best. She is able to sit alone for a moment with both hands against the floor, even occasionally stand for a few seconds with both hands grasping the rail. Her muscular tension is higher, she can not coordinate and control her body well. If her name is called or someone talks beside her ear she is able to turn around her head to locate the source following the sound direction. The muscular tension of her neck has decreased obviously, therefore its turning range is much larger.

If you move a toy with bright colors slowly in front of her eyes she will follow the toy visually. She is able to grasp a toy and shake it to and fro with her hands. She is an introverted and quiet baby, is able to lie alone for some time without noisy crying, but if she is made to practice sitting with her hands against the floor she will be very reluctant and cry aloud. Her crying is very loud and we can hear it from far away. She also likes to be cuddled by someone and her facial expressions and actions will be much richer while she is cuddled. Her speech development is delayed. She is a light sleeper.

Magnolia is a precious little girl, who is described as being extroverted and sweet tempered. She is fairly active, talkative, and has quick reaction time. Magnolia enjoys singing and listening to music. She gets along well with others and likes playing outdoors with her friends and with toy cars. Magnolia lives with a foster family and though she likes to be cuddled by her foster grandfather, she is closest with her foster grandmother. She is a good sleeper and sleeps in her own bed. She is not a picky eater, though she has been spoiled by her foster grandparents who tend to hand-feed her and let her use a bottle to drink her drinks from. Magnolia’s favorite foods are meat, dumplings, noodles, vegetables, and fruits. Magnolia can walk independently. She was able to imitate words and say simple things like, “What is this?” Her intelligence was said to be delayed compared to her peers, but her orphanage also seems to say this about many children in their care.

In January of 2014, Magnolia received surgery for lumbar spinal meningocele and hydrocephalus. She had good recovery after the surgery, though she is not toilet trained. We are unsure if that is a result of her meningocele surgery or because she just hadn’t been trained yet, but a family should be prepared for her to be incontinent. An update from August (you can read the full update below) mentions that Magnolia has had a handful of seizures over the years. Magnolia has the sweetest little face with the cutest little voice.

Magnolia has a $2,500 agency grant for her adoption with a specific adoption agency. You have to watch her sweet videos! The agency has several.

Olivia is an energetic, smiley, and beautiful little girl who likes listening to music and playing outside. She is especially close to her caregivers and loves to be cuddled and tickled by them. Olivia is diagnosed as having microphthalmia, which means that both of her eyes are very small and underdeveloped. She also has very low muscle tone. She is able to stand with support, but she can’t walk yet. Her caregivers have been working with her, but she still struggles to move independently. She can sit up for about 30 minutes, but she gets tired and often needs support. She knows her name, responds when called, and can follow simple instructions. She can make sounds like “ah,” but doesn’t say any words. She gets excited when her caregivers tell her it’s snack time or time to go play! Olivia has some feeding issues. She mainly eats soft foods like mashed vegetables. She has a hard time swallowing and needs food chopped up for her. She really likes to hold her bottle herself. Olivia is in a school program in her orphanage during the week days and lives with a foster family on the orphanage grounds the remainder of the time. Olivia is making progress, but what she needs most is a family who can provide her with love and therapies that are simply not available in her orphanage!

Olivia has a $500 agency grant, with her current adoption agency. Olivia needs a family with an approved home study to be able to hold her file or move forward with adopting her.

Addison is a petite and precious three-year-old girl who loves to be cuddled. When Addison was younger, she could walk independently and she had good fine motor skills. She could take small things out a bottle, turn the pages of a book, and take off her own socks. Addison loved to wave hello and goodbye, clap her hands, and blow kisses. Her nanny adored her and often took her to play on the playground. Addison could speak simple words, such as mom and sister and she could understand the adult’s instruction. She was described as cooperative, active, full of expression, and adored. Addison was sometimes mischievous and would occasionally lose her temper, as any 2-3 year-old would. She enjoyed the rocking horse and playing with balls.

In April of 2016 she started having seizures and was sent to the hospital for treatment. She does have a CT scan in her file which was normal, but once Addison came back she was like a different child. She had stiff limbs and couldn’t walk or sit. She was able to make small guttural sounds and could visually track moving people. The orphanage decided to have her start rehabilitation training. Addison started receiving acupuncture and massage therapy and her muscular tension improved. She can now hold her head up when lying on her stomach and responds to toys that make sound. She knows her name and will look when called. She still makes good eye contact, but has less facial expressions than she used to. She now imitates making sounds and recognizes people. She is still attached to her favorite nanny and enjoys when the nanny spends time with her. She will cry when the nanny leaves. Her nanny spoon feeds her porridge and she often bites the soon tightly and sometimes has trouble swallowing.

The agency has received a recent update. This sweet little girl has been through so much without a family by her side. It is our hope that the perfect family for her comes forward and meets her where she’s at and helps her reach her fullest potential!

Hailey is a smiley, sociable, and cuddly little girl. She can hold small toys and always smiles when someone plays with her. That smile will melt your heart. She is happiest when she is outdoors and loves being in the center of activities. She is very close with her caregivers. She cannot walk or talk yet, but she makes plenty of sounds. She is working hard at physical therapy and is striving towards learning to crawl. Lately Hailey has been taking more initiative to explore her surroundings independently. Hailey recently had a medical check up, including a cardiac ultrasound which showed no abnormalities.

Two year old Wendy is close with her caretakers and likes being held by them. Her file states that she has sharp reaction to outside stimulation such as sound source and visually following objects. She likes being teased, giggling, and can turn over onto her stomach. Her file indicates that she communicates her emotions by facial expression and reacts to being called.