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SUGGESTED
READING ON ADOPTION ISSUES
Below are a
list of readings and videos that you may find helpful.
To order
these materials or obtain additional information, visit your
local book store or contact Spaulding for Children at (248)
443-7080 or visit their website at
www.spaulding.org
Books
Brodzinsky, David M., et. al., Being Adopted: The
Lifelong Search for Self.
Authors have used the voices of adoptee themselves to trace
their adoption experiences from infancy through late
adulthood. This book utilizes Erikson’s seven stage life
cycle as its model to address these developmental life
experiences.
Delaney,
Richard, Troubled Transplants: Unconventional Strategies
for Helping Disturbed Foster and Adoptive Children.
This book is a useful tool for both professionals and
parents alike when dealing with foster and adoptive children
with psychological issues. Activities and ideas are
practical and easy to understand.
Fahlberg,
Vera, M.D., A Child’s Journey through Placement, 1991.
Provides information for professionals and parents to
support children who’ve experienced foster care and other
out-of-home placement. Serves as an example of what children
available for adoption may have experienced.
Girard,
Linda Walvoord, Adoption is for Always.
This book helps children explore their questions and
concerns about adoption in a safe and loving way through the
story of a child who was adopted at birth.
Hickman,
Martha Whitmore, Robert Lives with his Grandparents,
1995.
This book deals with the struggles youth face when they go
to live with grandparents when their own parents are unable
to care for them. Robert loves his grandparents but is
embarrassed that he lives with them. He goes on to discover
that some of his other classmates don’t live with their
parents, either, which makes him feel better.
Jarrat-Jewett,
Claudia, Helping Children Cope With Separation, 1994.
Explains the grieving process children experience through
adoption, separation from birth family or foster parents, or
through death or divorce.
Joy,
Deborah Berry, Benjamin Bear, 1988.
Children’s book addressing the feelings many children
experience resulting from their birth parents’ inability to
care for them, and on their subsequent adoption.
Opportunities and guidelines are provided for discussion.
Johnson, Patricia Irwin, Adoption is a Family Affair!
What Relatives and Friends Must Know, 2001.
This book is based upon real life experiences of
adoptive families dealing with issues of forming a new
family model and their experiences with friends and
relatives. It serves as a tool for those who care about
adoptive families, and helps them to gain a better
understanding of their experience.
Kupecky, Regina M., LSW & Christine Murphy, A Foster-Adoption
Story: Angela and Michael’s Journey,
2009
This therapeutic workbook tells the story of a brother and
sister who experience abuse, neglect, multiple foster care
moves, separation from each other and eventually adoption.
It encourages children to talk about their own experiences
as they read about kids just like themselves.
Price,
Jerome A., et. al., the Right to Be the Grown-up: Helping
Parents Be Parents to Their Difficult Teens, 2003.
This handbook assists parents in dealing with the special
problems that youth face today, and offers strategies to
address them. This book is highly recommended for wary
parents of troubled adolescents, and was developed by the
Michigan Family Institute.
Zisk,
Mary, the Best Single Mom in the World: How I Was
Adopted, 2001.
This book is written for children ages 4-8 years old. The
story discusses how excited a child is about her adoption by
a single mother. The story also addresses how the single
mother wanted to share her life with a child. There are
beautiful illustrations to go along with this cute story.
Videotapes
“Attention Deficit Disorder,” Dr. John Baugh.
This videotape explains how to identify children who are
experiencing hyperactivity and offers suggestions on how to
help them. (20 minutes)
“Black
Boys Are Wonderful,” Institute for Black Parenting, Los
Angeles, CA.
This video consists of boys presenting in their own words,
the plight of African American boys of all ages who are
backlogged in the child welfare system waiting for permanent
adoptive homes. (16 minutes)
“First, they’re Children,” Spaulding for Children and
Michigan Department of Mental Health, 1989.
This videotape depicts the experiences of families rearing
children with developmental disabilities. (25 minutes)
“Multiple Transitions: A Young Child’s Point of View on
Foster Care and Adoption,” The Infant Parent Institute,
1997.
This video employs a unique format: there are not adults-or
even adult voices-to be seen or heard. The script attempts
to distill what children would teach us about what it feels
like to be moved; and how their behavior changes as a
result, including their emotional availability for new
attachments. The film also provides suggestions on how these
situations could be better handled. (16 minutes)
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