Kyle (not his real name) is a delightful, and very social, 9-year-old boy with PWS and related conditions – including hypothyroidism, obstructive sleep apnea, morbid obesity and albinism – who is in need of a loving foster family. He currently resides in a group setting outside of Philadelphia, PA where, with the benefit of structure, close supervision and very restricted access to food, he is doing well and losing weight.

While he will take food when the opportunity presents itself or engage in skin picking, at his current placement these behaviors have been infrequent.  Kyle benefits from behavioral health treatment at his placement and enjoys participating in this. At times, Kyle struggles with following directions and may get upset when he does not get his way and has difficulty making choices. Many of Kyle’s behaviors can be attributed to his PWS diagnosis. But Kyle is also a very active and inquisitive child who enjoys reading and being read to, watching scary movies, singing in sing-a-longs, going for walks and swimming.

He attends the local public school where he is in a special education classroom. Kyle’s teacher reports that she is pleased with his behavior, as well as his academic progress. Because food is inaccessible to Kyle in this setting, his teacher reports no problems in this regard. 

A foster family with experience caring for individuals with PWS is being sought for Kyle. If you are interested in learning more about Kyle – who has a great personality and enjoys talking to people and interacting with his peers – please contact his child advocate attorney Shannon Sherwood at ssherwood@sccalaw.org or his child advocate social worker Cathy Behar at cbehar@sccalaw.org.