Cassie, 5 years old, NC

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Cassie is a sweet little girl who had a very rough start in life. She moved here from Florida over 2 years ago and has been in YFS custody for almost 2 years. Due to severe neglect and malnutrition, she is severely developmentally delayed and has a diagnosis of autism. She has made huge strides and progress since coming into foster care and is placed with a family who cares about her and is providing all the support and love that she needs. She is learning to communicate thanks to ABA therapy, and the attention and care she receives at home from her family and her nursing staff. Cassie is now attending Kindergarten for exceptional children and is thriving and doing better than we could have hoped. Cassie gets on very well her foster sister, and they love to dress alike and sometimes play together. She loves singing to herself and though she is still in her own little world a lot of the time she enjoys reading with her foster mom, singing along to Disney tunes and looking at books with any sort of story containing animal characters!

Cassie is a nonverbal child with Level 3 autism. She cannot express her needs verbally, but loves going to school and learning new skills. Cassie has recently learned to ride a tricycle at school, and her team has asked that she get one at home for increased mobility outside of being in a stroller. You can tell from watching her ride at school that she really enjoys the independence of driving herself!