Photolisting Profile for James O

James O is a 15-year-old boy from Maine who is hoping to be adopted.

James, who prefers to be called Jimmy, was born in April of 1994. He’s an engaging red head with freckles. He enjoys crafts, legos, and playing with his Bionicles and GameBoy. Jimmy played basketball and Farm League this year and has made significant gains in his abilities and confidence. He likes swimming, and loves to go camping with his foster family, especially at the ocean. Jimmy is a friendly boy who likes to spend time with people that he knows. It’s a pleasure to spend time with Jimmy, once he gets to know you. He has a number of friends and he likes school. Jimmy loves being a part of a family. He is able to show affection and he loves participating in family activities. Jimmy is at grade level in school and takes pride in doing well in his classes with the assistance of special education services. Jimmy receives written language support in the classroom. Jimmy has required classroom modifications in order to be successful which include: extra time to complete assignments, redirect attention as needed, provide information in short segments, and reduce written language assignments. Jimmy takes medication for ADHD and this better enables him to focus on schoolwork. Jimmy can sometimes take a negative point of view of situations when he is under a good bit of stress. He has a wonderful ability to express his feelings in these situations and he is able to work through his difficulties during conversations with the person that he is upset with. Jimmy has experienced situations where adults could not be counted on to care for him and he sometimes finds it difficult to trust the adults in his life to make good decisions for him. He is working hard on developing his ability to trust and allow himself to enjoy being a kid. Jimmy wants to be adopted and he is looking forward to being a part of a loving, supportive family. He is ready for adoption, although he will miss his foster family. It will be important for his adoptive family to enable him to maintain contact with his foster family and his birth siblings. Jimmy is currently placed with his brother, Shawn, but they will not be adopted together. Jimmy and Shawn love each other and need continued contact, but they have great difficulty in living together. Jimmy will also need to have contact with his sister, who has been adopted by another family. Jimmy entered foster care in February of 2001 due to his mother’s inability to care for him because of her mental health issues. He had been in a couple of short-term placements, but has been in his current foster home for over two years.