When we began our journey to international adoption, we knew that the possibility existed for our child or children to have RAD, but we still didn’t think it would happen to us. In our years as foster parents, we did take care of a few children who had been diagnosed with RAD, but it is different to know that you are the foster parent, a temporary home for that child, that you can take care of them and meet their needs but at the end of the day, if an emergency arises or if it becomes too much for you to handle, there is a social worker you can call who can step in. It is considered to be the most severe form of childhood mental illness. I remember watching a documentary in a College Psychology class about RAD and the girl in it having no conscience and trying repeatedly to murder her adoptive parents. Like many disorders, there is a spectrum with some children being more severely affected than others. It is the mental health diagnosis that you are warned about, but the one that you think could never happen to your family. In the adoption world, Reactive Attachment Disorder or RAD is the worst case scenario. RAD is the one diagnosis that I probably struggle with the most, both because it is the most challenging and because it is one that I never imagined we would be living through. I did not expect to be writing about the signs of Reactive Attachment Disorder because it is hard for me to talk about. The theme for the first month was “recognizing signs”. The other bloggers participating are women that I greatly admire so I eagerly agreed to take part. Last month, I was asked to take part in a year-long blog series on Special Needs parenting.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |