Thomas, aged 5
I was born in: June 2020.
Thomas has lovely dark blonde hair and blue eyes.
Thomas is a lovely, curious young boy with a great imagination. He loves to ask lots of questions which helps him build a sense of understanding of the world around him. Thomas is a cheeky chap and loves to have one to one affection from his carer. Thomas's carer described him as a "loving and inquisitive little boy, always eager to help and engage in different activities".
Thomas enjoys attending a boxing class twice weekly. This gives him the opportunity to express some of his more difficult feelings in a healthy way. After school Thomas is pleased to see his carer, he's chatty, hungry, and tired! At times he can struggle to focus and will move between different activities. He has his tea, bath, TV time and story time and is in bed ready to sleep for 7 pm every night. Thomas has settled into a good routine which appears to really help him to feel safe.
Thomas needs lots of reassurance from his foster carer and can be in a state of hypervigilance at times. He can struggle with busy and noisy environments and appears happiest when he is at home or somewhere calm and quiet with his carer. Thomas thrives on one-to-one attention and responds well to praise and encouragement. He appears confident on first meeting but struggles with his self-esteem and confidence. His carer is helping him with this and is seeing progress with Thomas all the time!
Education and Health:
Thomas is delayed with his social and emotional development. Thomas has an Education and Health Care Plan which entitles him to additional support at school. He has also been referred for speech and language therapy. Thomas doesn't have any diagnosed learning difficulties, the impact of his missed education while in the care of his birth mother has been significant. There is no diagnosed learning difficulties reported within Thomas's birth family.
Thomas's birth mother reports having depression and anxiety. Both conditions are moderately heritable but if Thomas is brought up in a stable and loving home this will reduce the risk of him developing similar problems due to any underlying genetic susceptibility that he might have.
Reasons for Coming into Care:
Thomas has been exposed to neglect and inconsistent parenting when he lived with his birth mother. Thomas missed considerable amounts of schooling due to lack of attendance. Whilst in the care of his birth mother Thomas displayed worrying behaviours, including volatile behaviour. There were also concerns that Thomas was exposed to inappropriate adult content such as 18+ games and watching inappropriate things on TV at home.
Type of Family Needed:
Thomas needs a lot of 1-1 attention so ideally needs to be in a family where he is the only child in the home. Thomas needs adopters who understand his past experiences and the impacts this has upon his emotional development.
Staying in Touch:
Staying in touch is recommended as indirect with birth mother, birth father, Grandmother once yearly, and direct/indirect with his younger brother and sister who have a care plan of adoption together.
This is a composite case study to illustrate the children who are being placed for adoption. All names are changed and the photograph is a model image.