![]() ![]() Like many disorders, there is a spectrum with some children being more severely affected than others. It is the mental health diagnosis that you are warned about, but the one that you think could never happen to your family. In the adoption world, Reactive Attachment Disorder or RAD is the worst case scenario. RAD is the one diagnosis that I probably struggle with the most, both because it is the most challenging and because it is one that I never imagined we would be living through. ![]() I did not expect to be writing about the signs of Reactive Attachment Disorder because it is hard for me to talk about. The theme for the first month was “recognizing signs”. ![]() The other bloggers participating are women that I greatly admire so I eagerly agreed to take part. A good agency will have social workers on staff to help you navigate the medical and mental-health system for your child.Last month, I was asked to take part in a year-long blog series on Special Needs parenting. When you are interviewing adoption agencies, ask about post-placement support, particularly for families faced with disability and illness. Most react exactly as they would had they given birth to such a child, that is, with love and commitment. While almost all adoptees-even those coming from the most dire situations-turn out to be perfectly healthy, every once in a while families discover serious and unexpected health problems in their child. What happens if I discover a health problem after the child is home? If the child is from an orphanage, talk to adoptive parents who visited previously: Were the children cuddled and loved? Were they held for feedings, or were bottles propped on their chests? Were the caregivers attached? Did they know individual children’s names and personalities? There are good orphanages and bad ones factor this into your decision. Adoptive parents should investigate their child’s early history and learn as much as they can about the child’s living situation. Obviously, most of these are symptoms that appear over time, and may not be immediately apparent from a video or a first meeting.
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