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Hi, my husband and I have been fostering a toddler for several months, and we're struggling. He went from a relative placement into traditional foster care. The relatives had cancelled all of his intervention/therapy services he qualified for when coming into care (which is what tipped the State off that something wasn't right). So, when we got the call, nobody really knew the extent of his trauma. He is completely non-verbal and shows very clear indicators for autism, he's going to be officially evaluated for that this month. He has two therapists right now, who we're working with. And we've been communicating his delays and behavioral issues with our agency, his therapists, and his daycare. He only shows two emotions: anger and obsessive loveliness (that turns to anger if you don't reciprocate immediately...which can be difficult sometimes when you're trying to do simple things like put his dinner together). Additionally, my husband and I travel on and off at different points for work (he always has at least one of us around, he's only done one overnight without us), but that is clearly a trigger for his anger. And we can't basically explain we will come back. We always come back. He's safe.
For the sake of space, I don't want to dive too deeply into his behavioral issues. We just want to know if anyone has any experience with or advice for working with a nonverbal child? That's the one piece we feel like we're struggling with and is causing us to second guess this placement, because we don't know what to do about it. We're following all of the advice from the therapists (he hasn't taken to non-verbal communication and signs, we still try, his therapists try, and his daycare teachers try), but maybe the parents have some strategies that worked...?
We're feeling very unequipped to deal with that piece of this puzzle..and it's never going to be perfect, but I want to know we're doing everything we can for him.
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Hi! RECE here. Just wondering if you’ve tried visuals? Or have you just tried signing? I’d imagine you’ve tried both but either way a suggestion just in case!
Perhaps if you leaving is a trigger, maybe make him a social story with many visuals regarding this (something very simple, about sometimes you have to leave but you’ll always be back) with your pictures in it, and allow him to look at this when you’re gone? Hopefully that helps!