We went rolling into Cathwel on our first morning in Taiwan last week, all excitement with just a few nerves mixed in. It had been 4 years! Would we still remember what we needed to do? How long would it take us to hit our stride? Then 2 little ones came in. They were both around 3-4 years old. Both absolutely adorable. I saw Nancy pull out a screening sheet and start getting the matching toys out. I knew we were back for real and we were going to be just fine.
One of the little ones who walked in was Joy. She is 4 years old and was wearing a little pink Hello Kitty dress. She was shy at first but had time to play before we saw her and I was able to see she was warming up and relaxing as she played in the room where we were seeing other kids. She is very lively and active. She runs, jumps, hops, and went down the slide several times by herself.
Once Nancy, our pediatric physical therapist, had a chance to spend some time with her, we saw she could also match colors, draw circles and squares, and describe objects in a book. She said she likes puzzles and drawing, but when asked to draw a person she did not want to. When asked what shape a star was she started singing, “Twinkle, twinkle, little star…”
Our social workers also had a chance to speak with Joy and with one of her caregivers. This is part of the insight Superkids can provide. Since we get to speak directly with the child and their caregivers we get information it would be impossible to otherwise have. If you are interested in Joy you will have the opportunity to speak with people who have met her in person.
It appears that Joy has a minor cognitive delay. She is in mainstream Kindergarten, where she is doing well, with a little extra support. She receives speech and occupational therapy.
Could Joy be your daughter? For additional information please contact us at Superkids@gladney.org. To see more photos of Joy, request to join Gladney's PRIVATE Taiwan Waiting Child Advocacy group on Facebook.
*Don’t forget to register for our next virtual information session to learn more about adopting from Taiwan.*