ZUSA from European Union

Zusa was born in August 2013 and has been diagnosed with mild cognitive disability, an expressive speech disorder, and hyperkinetic behavior disorder, for which she takes medication. Zusa lived with her family of origin until 2018 and has since been in a foster home. Attempts for family reunification have been unsuccessful. Update November 2022: Zusa continues to be in good health although she has frequent ear infections. Her greatest developmental delays are academic as she struggles to read, spell, and calculate. She has learned all the letters of the alphabet and writes very slowly with letter-by-letter dictation. She can complete simple addition and subtraction with help. Zusa works with a resource teacher. She draws with care and precision and includes details in her artwork. Zusa is currently in third grade and well accepted among peers with whom she engages in creative and interactive play. Zusa may benefit from non-traditional teaching methods, such as interest-based academics, to which she may not currently have access. Zusa’s self-help skills are developing. She can dress independently and tries to maintain her hair, tie ribbons, set and clear the table, assist with cooking and baking, and remember common routes in the community. Zusa is well oriented in everyday activities and enjoys the gentle hustle and bustle of home life. Zusa has many interests, including outdoor play, drawing, watching Peppa Pig, taking care of the family’s pets, playing with dolls, completing puzzles, traveling (including to other countries), and dancing traditional dances. Zusa experienced emotional and physical abuse and neglect by her family or origin, but she has been able to form a trusting and loving bond with her devoted foster family. She is curious, responsive, and helpful when she feels calm and safe and learns well with positive and purposeful stimulation from her teachers, foster mother and therapists. She understands that she may be adopted and is open to the idea. Zusa waits for a family who can provide stability and the unique resources she will need to reach her full potential. May 2022: A healthy and energetic child, Zusa loves to run, jump, swing and ride a scooter and also enjoys drawing, painting and coloring. She shows great interest in the social and material world and understands the occurrences of everyday life. She speaks in simple sentences, follows directions, asks questions, and makes conversation. She has formed an attachment to her foster family and loves to assist with cooking. Zusa responds well when she can be helpful and is included with household activities. She seeks aid along with visual and physical contact when she encounters difficulties but doesn’t always exhibit proper self-preservation skills. Both her resource and classroom teachers report that Zusa has made great progress in her learning, although she has not mastered all of the grade-level academic material. She can rote count to 20 and recognizes some of the letters as well as shapes. She can sort by a variety of characteristics, complete 35-piece puzzles, and knows colors and body parts. Zusa sometimes finds it difficult to follow the rules at school but responds well to authority and works hard to learn socially acceptable behavior through positive and purposeful teaching at school and in the foster home. While Zusa’s medication is currently quite effective in keeping her generally calm, her many adverse childhood experiences impact her development and functioning. A family interested in adopting this child must be prepared for the effects of complex developmental trauma and be willing to seek and provide appropriate interventions for Zusa, including mental health and special education services.