PERFECTION and peoples pervasive disrespect for the autistic person

It’s amazing the places we find encouragement and the places we find criticism. Are you surprised by the comments you hear about your child who has a disABILITY, about others who have disABILITIES? It’s especially gut-wrenching when those comments come from a family member who should know better. Particularly one who’s been around your child…

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the adopted and foster child’s ability to adapt

Adaptation. It can take a long time for humans and animals to adapt to a new situation or new lifestyle. However, many adopted and foster children who come from traumatic backgrounds adapt very quickly to new surroundings. This is also true for some children who are adopted when they’re infants. Even after healing took place…

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what to communicate with your child’s teacher: Autism in the classroom

Originally posted on lovin' adoptin' & autism:
School is starting soon. I think I just heard YIPEEES!!! from several of you. 🙂 Autism parents might be a tad more excited than the average parent for their child to go back to school after summer break, as that routine and consistency can make a night and…

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4 tips on finding the right adoption & foster care support group for you

Adopting and doing foster care can be lonely in the world-at-large. Very few people know what it’s like to adopt, they don’t know about bonding or attachment issues, they don’t know about specific behaviors adopted children can have and why, they don’t understand your concerns as an adoptive parent. Even fewer people know what it’s…

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which foster/adoption agency should you use?

One of the first questions foster and adoptive parents have is: Which agency do I use? (If you are interested in a child who is available for adoption through the foster system, please don’t miss the end of this post.) When doing foster care or adopting from foster care, you can use your local DHS (Department…

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this IS what I signed up for (autism, adoption, and all of the above)

Last week I shared what fun has been going on here. After sharing this with a friend, she said, “It’s not what you signed up for is it?” (A little background if you haven’t been around for long: Justin and I adopted two children from foster care, Payton is seven, and Jeremiah has non-verbal autism…

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orphanages in America & 5 things you can do to help

American’s don’t think orphanages exist in the USA, I mean in 2015 how could they? Sadly there are orphanages in America, they’re simply called “group homes.” Children in Arizona are being placed in group homes because there aren’t enough foster homes or kinship placement options. Maricopa County is only one county in the U.S. that’s…

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why you THINK I adopted or fostered, but you may be wrong

Everyone has their opinions of why people adopt or foster. Some wrong, some right. Family and friends have assumed why we adopted. Why we wanted to adopt from China, why we adopted from foster care, and maybe part of me wants to set the record straight, but a larger part of me knows adoptive parents…

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adoption and foster care in the classroom

Parents know what it’s like, the questions and requests from teachers for baby photos, information for family trees, and questions about moms. A teachers job is hard, really hard. It’s even more difficult as class sizes grow. To remember the backgrounds of every child is difficult, but I think there should be a general understanding…

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adoptive parents of autistic children needed for dissertation study

Catherine Godone-Maresca, M.A. is in need of adoptive autism parents. Catherine’s goal is to provide others with understanding about what it’s like to parent an autistic child. She says that this population of mother’s of autistic children has “remained largely unstudied.” Catherine has enough biological parents participating in the study, but needs these adoptive parents…

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