c7232

Child's name: Zyler
Number: C7232
Birthdate: 5/98
State: Washington
Listed: December 2008, Updated 1/10

Photo by Debora Spencer

If you have completed an adoption homestudy and would like to have your information forwarded to this child's worker, contact us.

ZYLER (5/98) is adorable! Very cute, talkative, and engaging, his smile lights up his face. Zyler truly wants to be adopted and often asks his social worker if she has found his permanent family. Experienced parent(s) who would make him the center of their world could be ideal. He thrives on adult attention and encouragement. While he clearly wants to please others, on occasion he resorts to acting younger than he is. Stuffed animals are some of his favorite possessions and they remind him of his birth sister. Eager to learn and try new things, Zyler has a nice sense of curiosity. He enjoys reading books and comic books, and especially likes Goosebumps and The Green Lantern. Of course, he likes his GameBoy and also enjoys playing video and board games and watching TV. Sports do not seem to interest him. Zyler’s favorite outings are one-on-one with a caring adult or with a small group of adults and/or older kids. While Zyler continues to need considerable guidance and support in learning how to interact with peers and make friends, he has some great relationships with adults and with older children.

Legally free, Zyler came into foster care in April 2005. While he sometimes talks about his birth mother and wonders how she is doing, he is ready for an adoptive family to claim him and to go forward in his life. Zyler participates in counseling once a week to help him deal with issues of past trauma and to help prepare him for adoption. Being willing to participate with Zyler in family counseling during the transition into his new home could be a wonderful way for his adoptive parent(s) to show their love and commitment to him. It will also be important for his adoptive folk(s) to be strong advocates for Zyler’s counseling needs for the foreseeable future.

While IQ test scores put Zyler in the normal to low range, he put so little effort into the most recent test that his evaluator thinks that his level of intelligence is likely higher than reported. Now in fifth grade, Zyler is the highest functioning student in his special education classroom, which is designed for kids with attention difficulties and high energy. Zyler does well in math and is in a regular math class with other fourth-grade students. He really likes his teachers and his favorite subject is – Technology! Zyler’s special ed teacher has a special fondness for him. Zyler has recently made a friend at school, who has come to visit him several times. Hopefully, this is a good sign of things to come in the social realm for Zyler.

While Zyler really needs an experienced adoptive family, his social worker is open to all kinds of families – single parent, same sex couples, and mom-and-dad couples. Zyler does, though, need to be an only child or the youngest of much older siblings. Having older kids who could be mentors and role models and who would recognize and reward his diligent efforts to please them could give Zyler a big boost forward. Zyler says that he would like to have “a brother and a dog or a cat!”

For Zyler to feel safe and to continue in his personal growth, he needs to have predictable routines with clear rules, expectations, and limits at home and at school. He will enthusiastically share and participate in a wide-variety of family interests and activities, especially when he feels empowered by parental guidance and love.

Subsidy and Purchase of Service may be available.

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