Uncategorized – Page 2 – lovin' adoptin' & autism

questions about birth family

By: Tracy Dee Whitt July 4, 2014

Uncategorizedadoption and birth family, foster care and birth family, how to help your child process birth family relationships, questions about birth family, what to do when a child says their birth mother loved them moreLeave a Comment

Conversations have been interesting in our house recently. Conversations can be interesting when you adopt your child from foster care, or adopt in general. They can be even more so when your child obsesses about their past (okay she obsesses about everything). Lots of questions have risen about Payton’s birth family, and we’re answering several…

4 reasons why you should teach your Autistic child to swim

By: Tracy Dee Whitt July 1, 2014July 8, 2014

UncategorizedAutism swimming, Autism wandering, Autistic children drown after wandering, Autistic children drowning, how learning to swim can save the Autistic child, my Autistic child wanders, teaching the Autistic child to swim prevents drowning, why you should teach your Autistic child to swim1 Comment

Drowning is the number one cause of death for children with Autism. Parents whose children have died from drowning probably regret that their child didn’t learn to swim. Not all Autistic children will learn how to swim with ease, and panic can set in when someone (Autistic or not) falls into water, so even knowing…

“scream rooms” and shock therapy being used on Autistic children: Do you know what your school’s doing?

By: Tracy Dee Whitt June 24, 2014June 24, 2014

UncategorizedAutism, Autism therapy, Autism toture, schools treatment of special needs, scream rooms used on Autistic children, shock therapy used on Autistic children, special needs, special needs classrooms1 Comment

What equates a torture device? Something that makes someone go crazy? I’ve come upon two organizations in the last few months who use torture to get what they want (and really in the end they aren’t getting what they want). You may think this doesn’t happen any more, it’s 2014 for goodness sake. Well, that’s…

6 reasons to hug

By: Tracy Dee Whitt June 19, 2014June 20, 2014

Uncategorizedadoption, Autism, benefits of hugging, foster care, hugging adopted children, hugging foster children, showing affection to adopted children, showing affection to foster children, why do hugs make us feel better2 Comments

Have you ever received a hug from someone and felt better afterwards? Have you ever been one to dole out a hug and feel the hugee relax in your arms? There’s something about a hug that changes our chemistry. In the movie Temple Grandin, Temple creates a machine that basically hugs her, she says something…

Well Child Check Up…

By: Tracy Dee Whitt June 17, 2014June 17, 2014

UncategorizedAutism, Autism and doctor visits, Autism and well child checks, special needs2 Comments

Originally posted on The Ipockolypse:
I hate that doctor’s offices make me cry. Whether the doctor is delivering good news or bad news, before the appointment is over I am a ball of ugly crying in the corner. My son finally had his 4 year well child check up. He is well over halfway through…

when words are triggers (adoption/foster)

By: Tracy Dee Whitt June 12, 2014September 9, 2014

Uncategorizedadopted child misbehaves, adopted child yells, adopted child's previous experience, adoption, birth family, fear, foster care, negative behaviors, triggers, what to do when words create negative behavior2 Comments

Risa’s daughter, Ashley, screamed every time she said, “Sit down.” It didn’t matter if it was dinner time, snack time, bed time, or movie time, Ashley broke down. The question could be asked, is this simply defiance? If it’s in several areas, it could be, but if a child’s experienced trauma, their behavior won’t fall…

great special ed teachers = priceless

By: Tracy Dee Whitt June 10, 2014June 10, 2014

UncategorizedAutism, Autism in the classroom, Autism teachers, inclusion, inclusive schools, paraprofessionals for Autism, special education, special educators, special needsLeave a Comment

There aren’t many things greater in life than knowing your child is in capable, caring, and safe hands when you drop them off at school. That feeling is multiplied exponentially when your child has special needs. I know how wonderful Jeremiah’s preschool teacher (his aides are truly amazing also) is because I know what it…

8 ways to help foster youth who are aging out of the system

By: Tracy Dee Whitt June 5, 2014June 10, 2014

Uncategorizedaging out, Connections Homes, donate cars to teens, foster care, foster teens, foster teens who age out of the system, foster youth, mentor teens, Provide job training to teens, support homeless teens, tutor teens6 Comments

Last week I shared this article, We Are Abandoning Children in Foster Care, from CNN on my Twitter page. The article gives some shocking numbers, one of those being the 23,439 foster teens who aged out of foster care in 2012. The reality that children are kicked out on their eighteenth birthday is made even more…

watch for clues: understanding your Autistic child

By: Tracy Dee Whitt June 3, 2014June 10, 2014

UncategorizedAutism, communication with Autistic child, expand the Autistic child's world, nonverbal Autism, special needs, try new things, understanding what a nonverbal child is communicating, watch what your child does2 Comments

Jeremiah saw his pajamas laying on our bed, grabbed them and brought them to me. Someone who doesn’t know him or doesn’t spend time learning about him might say, “Oh, he wants to go to bed.” Another person might not have a clue what Jeremiah is doing, so they take his pjs and put them…

emotional age vs. chronological age (adoption/foster)

By: Tracy Dee Whitt May 30, 2014May 30, 2014

Uncategorizedadopted child, adoption, bonding with adopted child, cause of meltdown, Dr. Bruce Perry, emotional age of adopted child, emotional age vs chronological age in adopted child, emotional age vs chronological age of foster child, emotional state, foster care, mental age of adopted child, regression, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, triggers for foster kids, triggers in adopted kids5 Comments

Evan lay in his room, screaming and pounding his fists on the floor, his feet slammed against his door. His mom, Talia, looked out the window, sure her neighbors could hear everything and imagined what they were thinking. She couldn’t believe he was behaving this way, he was eight-years-old and acting worse than a toddler,…