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…
Read Morewatch for clues: understanding your Autistic child
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…
Read Moreemotional age vs. chronological age (adoption/foster)
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,…
Read Moreis changing Autism acceptable?
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 Moreour semi-open adoption
There 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 Moresharing Lovin’ Adoptin’ helps families thrive
Last 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 Moreare Autism behaviors annoying?
An 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 Morebirth family relationships (adoption/foster)
My 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 Moreget the right response (Autism)
People 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 Morewhy Grandma & Grandpa’s parenting techniques don’t work with adopted/foster kids
In 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…
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lovin' adoptin' & autism 