Yvonne

Yvonne is a beautiful, social 12 year old girl who just celebrated her birthday at the end of November! She was born in November 2007, entered into government care in 2008 and has been in ICC care since April 2010.

She has a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy and Microcephaly which have not dampened her spirit or smile.  Her smile brightens everyone's day within the SWI.  Yvonne enjoys spending time with her peers, her teachers and therapist.  She receives 5 therapy sessions each week which are working to build her muscular strength, stability and balance.  She is also working on motor skills and sensory sensitivities.  If Yvonne is not receiving therapy, she is often found being a "therapy assistant" by watching and joining others during their sessions!

Yvonne is beautiful!

Yvonne loves to be included in play!  She is continuing to develop her fine motor skills with her teacher and therapists.  She is naturally left handed, and requires some encouragement to use her right hand.  With some prompting and modeling, she is able to complete simple two handed play.

She enjoys going for walks to the therapy room or to visit other children within the SWI.  She is making improvements in her balance and stability, however, she does experience falls or requires prompting or hand held assistance to stand up after falling.

Yvonne is able to understand simple, route instructions. She can say simple words like "hello" and "good" when prompted but prefers to grasp a carer's hand and lead them to item that she desires.  She is able to communicate with carers when she is happy or upset through gestures (e.g. she will tap her chin when she is unhappy).  Yvonne was recently assessed by a Speech and Language Pathologist.  Therapists will begin using a PODD Book to support her communication. A PODD book contains symbols and words which will allow her to more openly express her needs, wants and emotions.

Yvonne is receiving education within the SWI, and attend classes Monday-Friday.  She loves going to class and spending time with others!  She also attends group classes and receives one-to-one support which she greatly enjoys!

Yvonne is a lovely girl with a beautiful personality.  She enjoys one-to-one attention and praise from her caregivers.  She is very helpful and will collect toys for the other children or will help her carers during the day.  She responds well to familiar routines, is easy to form a relationship as she enjoys being with others.  She does have a close bond with her main caregiver and therapist.

We hope that Yvonne's forever family will see her soon!  We have a wonderful, professionally done therapy assessment that sheds much light on her personality, abilities and goals.  Yvonne is on the shared list.  Please contact Erin Schmidt (Erin.Schmidt@chinaconcern.org), ICC's Adoptive Families Coordinator, to receive her identifying information so that your agency can pull her file.