Medication

How many of your kids are medicated with drugs to make them nice? How many of us parents hate the medications and are so sad that the kids have to be on them? Write and tell us about it. Titan has been on medication since last summer and it took us several months of finding the right med and the right dose. Now we have found what works the best, but I feel like I have to flood him with chemicals just to make him feel anything. This is such a sad realization. Sometimes we forget or he just doesn't take them and we go right back to the old behaviors. That is the realization that the chemicals are calming him but little healing has taken place. That is also what gives me the fight to keep going however. Makes me understand that we just have to try harder. Tell us about your experiences with meds.

Crazy things therapists say.

Alright moms, time for something a little fun. After all sometimes if we don't laugh we will cry!
What are some funny things you have heard therapists tell you? Here are couple to get the ball rolling that I have heard.

* There is no such thing as RAD.
*He has to get used to being away from you.
* Lying is a completely normal and acceptable age appropriate behavior.
* (to my son)Tell me your stories. (she meant his life story, he thought she meant make up stories)
* I don't need to read his history, it's irrelivant.

Come on moms, I know you have some to add.

Hi ALL

HI All, Glad to be here with other mom's who struggle with the daily task of raising a child who hads RAD.

I am Deaffmommie and I have two children. My son is healthy so I probably won't talk so much about him but my daughter developed RAD after we were burn injured 11 yrs ago. Our abrupt separation and my subsequent changes in appearance as well as loosing my hearing have all played a part in my daughter's attachment issues.

MeiMei (little sister in Chinese) is my biological child. she was three yrs and two months at the time of the fire but still very young three and had a lot of her baby ways about her still. Add to that being cute and blonde and big green eyes, wel she became the staff favorite quickly.

MeiMei is now 14 and quite a young lady in some respects, but still "stuck" if you will not quite willing to stop being the center of attention. Hoping to share ideas on what works, gain support for things that don't and to help educate folks about thise VERY REAL disorder.

Thanks for asking me to share,
Deaffmommie

RAD kids and sleep.

Wonder if any other RAD moms have noticed this. My son needs a lot of sleep. He is nine and if he does not get 10 hours of sleep his behavior is terrible the next day.
This makes it hard for him to participate in evening activities. He also does not sleep in, no matter how late he stays up, he gets about at about the same time. So this time change thing has not been good.
I think part of why he needs so much sleep is that he still does not like to eat. He is better than he was, he eats enough now to maintain his weight, but not enough to grow and not enough to be able to stay awake longer.
So anyone else find sleep to be very important to thier RAD child's behavior?

Introduction

I am suburb mom. I have four children, all biological. They range in age from 6-13. My second oldest struggles with attachment disorder. He was medically fragile as a baby and spent a lot of time away from us. He is a smart kid and sure is a fighter. I am very proud of the things he has overcome. Unfortunately it all left him with severe trust issues and RAD. I will call him Titan (his favorite football team). We have struggled with doing no therapy, therapy alone, and therapy with medications. We have found that therapy with medications works the best for us. Without medications we really struggle with a lot of violent behavior. Thankfully the meds seem to slow that reaction time down a bit and make him more available for interventions to counteract the RAD. I have learned so much from my precious son and I know there is so much more to learn. Through my son I have also found a great deal of personal healing as well. This is a tough road but it is strengthening my faith every day. I hold onto the fact that I know God will not give me more than I can handle.

Country mom intro

Hi, I am Country mom, one of the moms here. I live in the country. I have four children, some are bio and some are adopted. My youngest child age 9 has been diagnosed with RAD among other things. My son "wheels" is adorable, smart and can be very sweet. However his first 6.5 years were spent in an Eastern European orphanage and that left him with some psychological scars. He has been home three years and made tons of progress! We still deal with tantrums some and lying and occasionally a little stealing and some food issues, but he is coming along. I am starting to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Parenting him has been the hardest thing I have ever done, but totally worth it. At least today I think so! LOL I look forward to sharing more with you about our journey together.

Welcome

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