Paige http://reecesrainbow.org/96763/paige-68 birthdate unknown, turning 16 sometime in 2017
Our information about Paige right now is limited, but an update has been requested including when she will turn 16. Her country requires immigration paperwork and fees sent in before the child turns 16. Single parents can adopt from her country! Paige is eligible for a $10,000 older child grant to assist with adoption expenses! Email childinquiry@reecesrainbow.org or visit her profile HERE for more information.
Paige is described as a very sweet girl with Down syndrome. She sounds like an absolute joy! Her profile was first posted a year ago, but I don't know if that photo was current or old when it was posted. Her photo shows that she is very small for her age. I don't know how large the walking frame is, but from the angle of the photo she looks tiny.
I love reading her profile. She smiles. She loves attention. Hugs make her happy! She likes to look at the pictures in books. She responds to speech and makes eye contact! She shows attachment to her caregivers. Oh my word, I read her profile and I see a little girl who would be an amazing daughter.
Who wouldn't want a little girl who loves to be hugged? Who likes to look at books together and watch tv? Our kids had movie night last night. She could be snuggled up on a couch with brothers and sisters. She loves listening to music. She needs someone to sing her goodnight songs at bedtime like we do every evening in our house. This snuggly little girl needs a family. She sounds amazing.
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Leroy http://reecesrainbow.org/53339/leroy February 2017
Leroy will be turning 16 in February 2017. His country requires immigration paperwork and fees to be sent in before the child turns 16. Parents must be married and at least one parent needs to be more than 15 years older than the child. Leroy is eligible for a $10,000 older child grant to assist with adoption expenses! Email childinquiry@reecesrainbow.org or visit his profile HERE for more information.
We know Leroy! We've spent a lot of time with him. He used to live with Theo and Orion. He is one of the kids who is scheduled to be moved into foster care and become unadoptable. I've talked about that before HERE. (We are adopting Daisy! She was going to be included in that changeover, but we will adopt her instead!) It has been delayed a few times now, but it is still scheduled and the changeover is approaching. Unfortunately unlike a lot of foster homes in this country, the children in these homes will be returning to institutions at 18. So not only will a family need to have paperwork turned in before his 16th birthday, they will also need to commit to adopting Leroy before this changeover occurs.
I am amazed by all of the progress Leroy has made over the last few years. In his earliest photos and videos he dragged himself around with his arms. Now between therapy and hard work he can walk! He has gone from crawling to using a regular walker to using a cane then walking independently. It is really, really impressive to see how far he has come.
He likes electronics. If we had a phone or tablet with us to take pictures of the kids he was always one of the first to ask to use it. The other kids could be distracted to play something else or would forget about it, but Leroy always remembered where he saw us hide it. He would ask for it again as soon as everyone else was busy!
Leroy is smart. Sometimes the kids get lessons on letters and numbers now in the group home, and he is always one of the ones who picks up the most. With other kids being adopted or moved, he might be the most advanced kid there. He was much more advanced than my boys. I can't make any guarantees, but now my boys can read simple words and beginning readers. I don't know if he can read simple words already or not yet, but I think he is probably easily capable of that.
He is a lot more mature than the other kids. While our boys and some of the others there are closer developmentally and emotionally to younger children, Leroy was a lot closer to his actual age. He acts and jokes a lot more like a teenager. He did like a lot of the same "younger" things as the other kids, but he also would sometimes point out that the shows the other kids wanted to watch were for little kids. He wanted to make sure we knew he was "cool" and grown up. He was very self-aware compared to a lot of the other kids.
It kills me that as a kid he along with a lot of other kids were channeled into this orphanage due to their physical disabilities. He is also delayed, although I don't know how much is environmental. For so many years he and these other boys sat and stagnated in empty rooms. No one belongs in these institutions. There is an extra sense of loss when a child is sent there because they are assumed incapable based on their physical limitations.
That is Leroy on the ground when he was much younger, with another child who was adopted by an amazing family!
He is a very clever kid. I could easily see him being given the choice whether or not to be adopted. Our boys weren't asked, although they were happy to have a family. Families interested in adopting Leroy should know that he has gone back and forth on the idea of being adopted.
I know how many more amazing opportunities he would have in a family. I have seen his life where he is now. The group home is miles above the care the children were receiving prior to charity intervention. Our earliest photos of our boys and the facility show mixed groups of children and adults with all types of needs sitting in empty rooms. These group homes are a tremendous improvement over that. The foster care change is hoped to allow the kids to participate in more typical activities like going to buy groceries, which they don't do now. After 18 though, he would be moved back to the adult section. Some very high functioning adults have tasks around the grounds of the orphanage. They can't have real jobs, or live independently, or have families. They can't go to a regular store. The charity groups try to bring some of them on occasional trips out of the orphanage with the children, but they can't all go.
I see the future my boys have compared to Leroy's. He has only ever known his life there. From his point of view, his life in that group home is pretty swell. And it is good! There are a lot of much worse living situations for kids in his country. He has spent time in them prior to this. His time after turning 18 will be more perilous, but a few years can seem a long way off for teenagers. Going to a new life in a new country is a huge, scary thing. I understand why he has wavered. I don't know where he stands now, but a family should know that before proceeding for him. I hope the best for Leroy. I see so much potential in him.
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