When your child was diagnosed as LD, learning disabled, did you give up dreams of sending your child off to college? College or higher education may still be an option for your learning disabled adult child if you do some research. Not everyone who attends college receives a degree; some receive training, or certifications in trades. These certifications typically require less classroom time and some offer a lot less reading which appeals to many adults with LD. Some of the trades programs do not have set classroom hours. This flexibility may suit an LD adult who struggles with keeping track of time and schedules.

On Their Own: Creating an Independent Future for Your Adult Child with Learning Disabilities and ADHD: A Family Guide author: Anne Ford,John-Richard Thompson asin: 1557047596

If you have young children in daycare, preschool, or elementary school and your weather is getting colder, it is time to pull out the head lice precautions. Young children are notorious for tossing their coats and hats into piles. It only takes one hat with a few head lice on it tossed into the pile to spread to the rest of the coats. Do you think your child’s hair is too clean to attract bugs? Think again, head lice love clean shiny hair; it is easier for them to attach their eggs to it. If you do not already have an empty spray bottle then you need to get one. Pick up a bottle of white vinegar, a two-ounce bottle of Tea Tree Oil, and some Lavender or Peppermint Oil.

Welcome to older child adoption when giving consequences to your child for the wrong behavior do not have the effect that the parents desire. Traumatized children do not respond to the disciplinary measures in ways that “normal” children respond. Yet, most of us stubborn parents continue to try, much to our own frustration. Of course, that results in a lot of negative interaction between the parents and child. Eventually, the relationship disintegrates to an antagonistic co-existence waiting for the eighteenth birthday. Although, some parents disrupt the adoption out of pure frustration and some place the children in out-of-home placements. Some parents figure it out, change their methods, and salvage the relationship.

The CDC has issued a new report, “Assessing the Burden of Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-Associated Cancers in the United States (ABHACUS).” The CDC has pushed for the HPV vaccine, commonly known as Gardasil, to be given to all girls and women between the ages of 9 and 26. They are pushing for the younger age to reach girls before they become sexually active, if possible. The numbers that the CDC collected and included in this report will serve as a baseline to measure the success of the HPV vaccine as well as the cervical cancer screening programs. Numbers reported from 38 states for five years indicate that 25,000 cases of cancer caused by HPV occur each year.

Of course, these cancers caused by HPV happened before the HPV vaccine was developed. The cancer sites associated with the Human Papillomavirus or HPV include the cervix, mouth, anus, vulva, penis, and vagina. This list may give you a clue as to why condoms do not offer 100-percent protection against the more than 30 sexually transmitted types of HPV.

Has your child ever shared with you that he may be the only adopted student in the school or the only kid in the class with special needs. Some of the privacy laws in place tend to isolate children who previously would have found each other. It is easy to feel like you are the only person dealing with an issue when you are an adult who has expectations that are more realistic than some childish expectations. Therefore, it may be important for you to socialize with other adoptive families. Families who are as open about their adoptions as your family. The children tend to feel a certain bond with each other once they find out they have adoption in common. When they are together, they feel normal because they have similar histories, problems, and adoptive families. We once a child at church who thought she should make up an adoption story because she was the only girl in the fifth grade class who was not adopted. She felt isolated and different and that is a hard way to feel when you are a child.

When foster parenting teenage girls dating boys is bound to happen. On the one hand, you want your foster children to lead as normal a life as possible. On the other hand, most teenagers in foster care are emotionally immature and have poor boundaries do to years of neglect or abuse. These are not good qualities to have when a girl is alone somewhere with a teenage boy in the throws of puberty. Is there a safe middle ground, a way to let your foster teenager have fun and yet offer that extra bit of protection?

Over the years, I have raised quite a few foster teenagers to adulthood. It does not really take very long to raise a child when you don’t start until they are teens or tweens. Being a senior citizen on a fixed income, I really cannot afford to give any financial support to any of the girls once they move out of my home as adults. I do however continue to talk to them on the phone, be supportive, offer guidance when requested, and occasionally one will spend a night or a few days.

My last foster daughter to move out spent eight years with me. The last five months she was here were quite difficult financially because we were unable to arrange for any financial assistance for her. Because I love her dearly, we struggled along because she did not really have anywhere else she could go to live. Then, she stole from me, again, so I had to ask her to leave. Finances are just too tight with caring for an extra teenager without any help from the state, to have money stolen.

An important part of adoptive parenting or foster parenting is helping the child understand the past. Sometimes you must even help an older adopted child recreate the past. A tool used in foster parenting is creating a lifebook for the child. You do not need to use an actual book called a lifebook. You can recreate the past using scrapbooks. In the past, we had children make drawings of people or places for which we did not have pictures. Another option is to cut some baby pictures out of a magazine that have similar coloring to the child to help fill the void. Obviously, the child helps do this, and the child knows that it is not an actual photo, but it represents the period of life that is missing. It is much easier now that there are so many scrapbooking supplies available to fill pages.

LifeBooks : Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child author: Beth O'Malley asin: 0970183275

Splitting or separating siblings is a common practice in foster care placements. This is especially true for larger sibling groups. It is difficult and sometimes impossible for a CPS (Child Protective Services) worker to find a licensed foster home able to accept four or more children on a moments notice. Then, because foster parents are considered emotional parents of the children, if the child’s plan moves to adoption, the siblings end up being adopted separately as well. Sometimes, agency specifically plan sibling splits because the children have been so abused, that they are unable to function normally under one roof. These children may act out sexually together, which can be nearly impossible to control, even with door alarms, voice monitors, and cameras in place as countermeasures. Sometimes, the children have such severe special needs that the agency feels it would be overwhelming for one family, so the children are split.

Just how bad can life be with an adopted traumatized child? After all, it is just a child, right? For most people a picture comes to mind of a sweet cuddly child, who is just looking for love, understanding, and positive reinforcement. With enough love, any child can be turned around. Those people who fail, they just do not try hard enough or they are just too critical. Before I began more than a decade of foster care, I might have said these things myself. Before I began fostering older children, I believed these things myself. After years of attending support group meetings, providing respite care to desperate parents, and mentoring foster, and adoptive parents I know a different truth. If you have not parented a child like this, then you have no clue what it can be like living 24/7 in the same house. I bring this up because of the recent abandonments of teenagers in Nebraska. 

I belong to a yahoo group for parents who live with children exposed to alcohol before birth. Without giving too much information, I would like to share some pieces of a recent plea made on the group for help. This is an extreme situation involving a very young child. Many will have trouble believing a child so young is capable of such extreme behavior. I am sure that is why this mother is having so much trouble getting the help for her child even though she has been begging for help. Even her husband is doubtful. Apparently, the child does not misbehave when Daddy is present.