Adoptive Parents & Attachment

In a perfect world, every child would be wanted, valued, and nurtured to her fullest potential by devoted birth parents.

            However, the opposite is our stinging reality. Many babies are born into apathetic, unstable, or abusive homes, and some experience multiple moves within the foster care system. Soon these wee ones believe their needs are not valid and nobody can be trusted to soothe and care for them. Their young brains cannot develop connections for self-calming and attachment. “The world is unsafe,” is seared into their unconscious, and they develop a survival attitude. An unhealthy protective shell grows around their tender heart to protect it from the pain of disappointed dependency on others.

Manipulation, Terrorizing Animals, Fire setting

These are just a few of the signs of Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), a rare but serious condition. It's diagnosis, not recognized by all professionals, and treatment is controversial.

Today on The Parent's Plate radio show, my guest Dr. Ron Huxley of The Parenting Toolbox uncovers some of the attachment issues kids may struggle with and the most extreme, RAD. He'll explain why attachment issues can destroy a parent/child relationship or set up lifelong problems for a child.

We welcome call-in questions and comments to our studio 877-864-4869. If you're shy about your voice over the air, then go to the www.toginet.com main page and click on live chat in the middle of the top toolbar. Then you can type in your question or comment and our producer will get it to us.

If you're an adoptive parent and want to know more about your child and how his/her background could affect attachment, make a point to listen to this show!

Wounded Children, Healing Homes

Do you remember the TN woman who returned her adopted son to Moscow because he had mental issues that made it difficult to raise him? It's causing international outrage!

Many adopted children carry emotional wounds, making it a challenge to raise them. Many adoptive parents are clueless, poorly trained, or in denial about how to raise a traumatized child. Tuesday, July 13, is a special The Parent's Plate radio show www.toginet.com/shows/theparentsplate on adoption with five-time author JAYNE SCHOOLER.

Jayne's passion for over 20 years has been the training and education of adoption and foster care professionals and families. She has been a featured speaker at numerous state and national conferences and trains regularly for the Ohio Child Welfare Training Program. She even works with Lamb International Ministries in Urkaine.

On this show you will discover

*typical expectations that new adoptive parents have;

*how families can prepare to adopt children who have experienced abuse, neglect and trauma;

*how families prepare their biological children as they adopt children who have experienced abuse, neglect and trauma;

*signs that a family is in adoption crisis

and much more. If you're an adoptive parent or know one, this is the show to hear! Tune in Tuesday at 10 am (EST) / 7 am (PST) at www.toginet.com/shows/theparentsplate.
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