EVANGELINE from European Union

Evangeline was born in October 2011. While physically healthy, she has been diagnosed with moderate developmental disability and a significant disturbance in behavior. She requires constant care and support from adults. Evangeline’s gross motor skills are age appropriate although she appears uncoordinated at times. Similarly, her fine motor abilities are not always precise and hand-eye coordination is lacking. Currently in third grade, Evangeline works with a resource teacher and has not yet acquired Kindergarten-level skills. She is not oriented in time and space and her thinking and actions are based only on concrete experiences that she can access in her immediate environment. Described as emotionally unstable, Evangeline struggles to self-regulate and does not understand the feelings or needs of others. Despite targeted speech therapy, Evangeline has a limited vocabulary and is difficult to understand. Her ability to lead a dialogue is impacted by her challenges with forming sentences and responding to questions. She is not able to follow social conventions and rules for interactions with others. Nonetheless, Evangeline is sociable and strives to get along with others. She likes to listen to songs and to dance.