Brandon (D.0.B. 12/28/93) was taken out of his home in 2001 and was in our home for 3 years when we adopted him. He was taken from his home because of neglect and abuse. He had to be separated from his 3 sisters because his first foster family could not handle his aggression. Because he was the only boy in his biological family, he took most of the abuse. He came to our house not being able to read, not knowing colors, not knowing how to bathe himself or feed himself properly.

Brandon’s social skills were nil. He would attach himself to anyone and told anyone he met, that he loved them. Today, Brandon suffers from ADHD and RADS. He is eleven years old and now reads and writes on a third grade level. The picture he drew was on one of his favorite things he got when he came here… “Friday night movies”. He is sitting on a couch watching television. Brandon suffered horrible abuse, being tied to chairs for hours, locked in a bedroom for hours, hung up from plant hook on the ceiling, all in the name of “fun”. That’s what his parents told him he was having. He was a young man who went to school filthy, dirty clothes, in his mother’s underwear, and a head full of lice. The school had him shower, put on clean clothes, and used medication on the lice… then unfortunately had to put the dirty clothes back on to go home.

Brandon wanted to put his very, very favorite picture on the quilt, that of him in the shower, but decided he didn’t want to be naked on the quilt. He has long way to go but success always starts with a single brave step.