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DAVID (12/93) loves the outdoors and fishing is a favorite pastime. He has a great fondness for animals and family pets, and enjoys riding his bike, playing out doors, and playing video games. Having one-on-one time with a significant adult in his life is makes any activity or pastime special.

David came into foster care in May 2004 following the disruption of his guardianship placement with his grandmother. David has special needs that are thought to be related to fetal alcohol exposure in utero, and he needs a family that is knowledgeable about the challenges that such he struggles with every day.

Because of the neurological issues associated with fetal alcohol effects, having adoptive folk(s) who either have the necessary skills and information to parent, teach, and guide him (or who are willing to learn!) can make a huge difference in how David’s life unfolds from this day forward.

Most children who have fetal alcohol effects are visual learner, and this is true for David. He is able to do best when those parenting and teaching him use concrete language, pictorial or visual cues, and repetition; all of those things help him get a better grasp of information being presented. He also processes his work much more slowly than his classmates and benefits from having extra supports in that area.

The fetal alcohol effects that challenges him the most are his difficulty learning from experience and his lack of ability to read social cues. Having an adult nearby to assist him throughout the day is what can help him stay on track, whether at home or at school, or in the community. The ability to patiently and kindly direct and redirect him maybe several times a day will likely be a key to helping David feel safe and to experience success. Having appropriate academic and behavioral supports in school is essential to him doing well. He benefits, too, from individual or small group activities where he can receive models, prompts, cues, and multiple opportunities to practice.

It would be an act of love and commitment for his adoptive folk(s) to participate with him in a kind of family counseling format with a therapist who has expertise in the field of fetal alcohol treatment. Such counseling could be helpful not only to David, but also to his new parents as they come together as a family.

While a two parent family would be great, his worker also wants to hear from those exceptional single moms and dad who have strong support systems of family, friends, and community resources. David should be the only child or the youngest child in the family. Even if there he is an only child, it may be helpful for David to have the structure and supervision of a safety plan in the home to help him further strengthen his personal boundaries and to get a better grasp of what personal safety skills are.

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