Monday, June 20, 2011

Let's Talk Adoption Conference

New Jersey's 30th Annual "Let's Talk Adoption" Conference
will be held this year on a new date: October 1. 2011, from 8:30-4:00.  It is held in Piscataway, at the Busch Campus Center of Rutgers University.  The Keynote Address, "Commitment vs. Consumer Mentality: Dealing with Expectations in Adoption" will be given by Tito Del Pilar.

This is a wonderful annual event that brings together people in the adoption field, adoptees, adoptive parents, birthparents....it truly has something for everyone.  It's a must attend, if you have any interest in learning and growing in this field.

Monday, June 6, 2011

CHILDREN'S INSTITUTIONALIZATION LINKED TO GREATER INCIDENCE OF ADHD

Interesting article about ADHD and adopted children.  The symptoms of this condition also have much to do with Sensory Integration issues.  How to treat it is often a challenge.  Any thought or comments?

CHILDREN'S INSTITUTIONALIZATION LINKED TO GREATER INCIDENCE OF ADHD

"Behavioral and Emotional Symptoms of Post-institutionalized Children in Middle Childhood," by Kristen Wiik, Michelle Loman, Mark Van Ryzin, Jeffrey Armstrong, Marilyn Essex, Seth Pollak, and Megan Gunnar, is in the January issue of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (Volume 52, Issue 1). This study assessed child functioning in three groups of children, ages 8-11: ones adopted internationally from institutions, ones adopted internationally from foster care, and those living with their birth families. While adopted children had significantly more parent-reported externalizing and internalizing problems than their non-adopted peers, the differences between children coming from orphanages and those coming from foster care were primarily related to increased ADHD symptoms – 23% of post-institutionalized children met the clinical cutoff, as compared to 6% of those adopted from foster care and 3% of non-adopted children. To access an abstract, go to: http://bit.ly/dG4frX.