adoption, foster care, and autism
Last week in the post, Are Autism Behaviors Annoying, I mentioned a conversation which took place between me and a family member about Autism. You can read that post to see where this relative, Joan, was coming from. Joan continued from the “…annoying,” comment to telling me about an acquaintance they recently ran into. This…
Read MoreThere are all kinds of open adoptions. I know several families who’ve adopted and none of them have the same relationship with the birth families. Last week in the post, Birth Family Relationships, I talked about how different contact can look for each family. Connections with birth family can be done through the exchange of…
Read MoreLast week I received a comment on my blog saying, “I was suggested this website by my cousin. I’m not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else knows such details about my trouble…” I replied that I’m not her cousin, but I hope that what I’ve written helps her. I share…
Read MoreAn interesting conversation arose between me and a family member about Autism. I’m sure whether you are Autistic or have a child with Autism, you’ve had some interesting conversations yourself. This exchange began with me talking about my son, Jeremiah who is four-years-old, has Autism, and is nonverbal. I said, ”I had a dream that…
Read MoreMy cousin, Dawn*, and I were teenagers when we sat on her living room floor flipping through a photo album. On the first page my Aunt Deidre* was pictured with a big smile, holding a precious baby with an adorable beauty mark on her forehead. That day, Dawn shared with me that her mom had…
Read MorePeople with Autism are intelligent, but sometimes as a parent of an Autistic child it can be difficult to see at times. When we ask our children to do something and they don’t respond, it’s not a lack of intelligence, but the Autistic child’s brain taking time to process everything. Temple Grandin has said… The…
Read MoreIn March, Rebecca Vahle of the Adoption Perspectives radio show interviewed me. In the interview below, we discuss why “normal” parenting techniques don’t work with adopted and foster children. We went over things such as: why it’s okay to give a child attention when they’re acting out why people want us to parent differently, and…
Read MorePam Parish, a woman who writes insightful words over at http://www.pamparish.com, asked for input on the “love is not enough” idea in a Facebook adoption group. I had quite a lot to say about the subject since I’d heard Nancy Thomas speak on “Love is Not Enough.” I had disagreed with Nancy to a point,…
Read MoreHow do people; therapists, family, teachers, and friends view our child who is nonverbal? Do they truly understand our child? How does our child feel when they can’t communicate what they desire or need? Can you imagine the frustration of not being able to tell someone you’re hot, hungry, want to go to a certain restaurant,…
Read MoreDo you have a young child who doesn’t obey when you ask her to do something? Does your child smile at your from the top of the table when you’ve asked him to get down? Do you have a newly (within the last year) foster or adopted child who is older but doesn’t do what…
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lovin' adoptin' & autism