Cassie, 5 years old, NC | 18 DAYS WAITING

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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 loves music, especially her favorite Disney tunes from The Lion King and Pixar movies like Toy Story. A Disney Tonies Buddy Box would give her a screen-free way to sing along, enjoy music with her family, and support her language development and socialization. Although Cassie uses a speech device, she loves singing to herself and quickly learns the words to songs. The included character figurines would also bring her love of animals and characters to life, giving her another fun way to play, practice naming familiar characters, and connect with her foster mom and foster sister.