SHAUNA T.

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Age 13

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Angela T.
Child Welfare Specialist

Angela T.:	Shauna is 13. She has an amazing personality. She's almost bigger than life. She's very adventurous and outgoing. She enjoys many activities, such as running and playing. She loves outdoor activities, such as blowing bubbles, playing at the playground. She enjoys water activities, although she has to be extremely supervised with it, [just because 00:00:47] he'll sit and color and or do crafts. She's pretty creative. This is actually her second time to be in DHS custody due to unfortunate situations in her life. Shauna has been in custody this time approximately four years, however she hasn't necessarily been in a real home type setting for very long.

She's been institutionalized. She's also been in shelters and she only had a placement for 11 days at a DDS agency companion. Shauna is autistic. She functions on a level of about three to four-year-old. She's considered as a nonverbal child, however the more people interact with her, the more she has picked up. She also has a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress and she has some maladaptive behaviors due to the abuse and neglect that she has sustained. With Shauna's diagnosis, tactile activities are incredibly enticing to Shauna. She loves touch tables. She loves soft things. She loves to play with Play-Doh. The type of family that would be best for Shauna is a family with at least a female caregiver.

Shauna has in the past had some issues with male caretakers and building those bonds with males. Although the older she gets, the more she does start to build bonds with males. She also would do better with a family who has children her age or older or similar to her age. With Shauna and her diagnosis, the family would actually need to be prepared to be extremely patient with Shauna for one. She's physically able to do things, however with her mindset, she does function at that lower level. She has to be constantly supervised. Also, it would be imperative to have resources nearby, however she does have the support of DDS.

It's important for our DDS children are placed in in adoptive homes so they have that one on one attention with caregivers, with parents, who deserve to be loved in that sense. They need to have that interaction. Like any child, they need to have that forever home. If they're just in a group home, then they don't have somebody to help really care for them after they age out. They don't have those connections to family. Shauna is such an incredible, loving, and caring child. If given the opportunity and the potential to be in a family, I know that a family would embrace her and immediately would love her and enjoy her presence.

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For more information about adopting Shauna T.
Please call 1-800-376-9729
Or visit online at www.okfosters.org
Recorded January 19, 2017
Special thanks to The Oklahoma Aquarium