Editor's Note: Window on the Clearwater has joined the Wednesday's Child network to help spread the word about children that are waiting for families to give them the loving care that they need. Each Wednesday we will profile a different child. For more information about Wednesday's Child and how you can be involved check the web site at: http://www.idahowednesdayschild.org/.

Josiah

Ages: 5

Profile and portrait provided by NWAE.

Josiah is a delightful, high energy boy who loves Spiderman! He has short curly black hair, dark brown eyes, chubby cheeks and a big friendly smile. Josiah is tall for his age, has an exuberant personality and is very expressive. He is constantly in motion and loves to be active. Josiah will need a skilled adoptive family who can provide structure, supervision and the engagement in specialized services that he needs in order to continue to thrive and to reach his full potential.

Josiah has multiple special needs which will require ongoing monitoring. He is hearing impaired and is getting accustomed to wearing hearing aids for correction. He is also learning some sign language and needs his caregivers to be creative and able to use multiple methods to help Josiah develop his communication abilities. Josiah has some developmental delays in multiple areas, which may be caused by a genetic health condition. Interested family workers can inquire further into what this means and the impact of his condition. Prospective adoptive parents will need knowledge of prenatal substance exposure and the potential effects it can have on a child's short and long term development.

Josiah has a supportive team of service providers who are working together to help him make as many gains as possible. The right adoptive family for Josiah will have the time and willingness to work with the team and implement therapeutic strategies at home for the foreseeable future.

This outgoing child seeks out constant motion and needs and loves any activity where he can bounce, jump, push, and pull. He will do best in an active but structured environment where he has many safe and supervised opportunities to be busy.

Josiah currently attends a specialized classroom half days, four days per week. He really enjoys the bus ride and his time at school.

Josiah's current caregivers are very skilled, and he has thrived while in their care. Despite some of the circumstances of his early life, he has flourished in this attentive environment and has made wonderful improvements in many areas. He has also recently made leaps and bounds in his skills and is very proud of himself.

Josiah maintains the connection with important members of his birth family, and it is in his best interest for him to have an appropriate relationship with them after he is placed with his adoptive family. It is hoped that the adoptive family will be willing to engage in mediation to develop a post-adoption communication agreement. Because Josiah is not yet legally free to be adopted, prospective adoptive parents will need to have an approved homestudy prepared and ready to be presented to his adoption worker for review and consideration.

As noted above, Josiah is a very active boy who needs a high level of structure and supervision. He can be very impulsive and at times this translates into physical expression and contact with others. Josiah needs parents who can provide him with a high level of supervision. He has a "big" personality and has not yet developed the ability to understand how he impacts his environment and people around him. Josiah needs adults to model appropriate social interactions and help him develop friendship and problem solving skills with peers.

Josiah will do best with a patient, structured, active family who has an understanding of how his special needs impact multiple areas of his development. He will do best in a home where he is the youngest and physically smallest child. Josiah loves animals but does not yet understand how to safely interact with them. He needs to be supervised and guided in his interactions with animals. The right adoptive family for Josiah will have the time and willingness to creatively identify ways to provide him with opportunities for learning. Josiah needs permanent parents who have a realistic understanding of his limitations yet continue to encourage him to become his very best self.

Josiah needs a family that will help him develop a positive self-concept that includes feeling able to talk about his own racial, ethnic, and cultural identity. His adoptive family does not need to be from a particular race or culture, but needs to be supportive of Josiah developing his own identity and exploring what his African American heritage means to him. The adoptive family will need to be able to meet Josiah's need for culturally appropriate skin and hair care. Josiah also needs a family who can support and explore his relationship with Deaf Culture and the Deaf Community.

Josiah is a spunky boy who is friendly and outgoing. He greets each day with a zest for life that is inspiring. Josiah has a lot of love to share with his permanent family and will surely continue to bloom into a wonderful young man with the unconditional love and support an adoptive family will provide.

To find out more about Josiah, adoption or becoming a foster parent, email the Idaho CareLine (Please include your zip code and city.) or call 1-800-926-2588. They is available for adoption through the state of Oregon.

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