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I don't know what the whole RAD issue is, but I do know about attachment disorders. Children with such problems can be very difficult, I know, I'm one of them. I'm 20 years old and I still can't give my adoptive parents a hug. I can remember when I was younger my adoptive mother and I used to go to therapy and once the therapist gave me the assignment that I had to give both of my parents a kiss on the cheek before I went to bed every night. I hated it, I rebeled like none other, but my parents made me do it for quite a while. It got easier with time, but mostly because I knew that I had to do it, that I would get grounded if I didn't. The important thing to remember with these children is that their problems aren't just going to disappear with having a new family. It takes time for them to heal from everything that they have experienced, and it takes them knowing that they have a problem that needs to be fixed. I was in denial for a long time, it wasn't until I picked up the book Adopting the Hurt Child that I realized I had a problem. Unfortunately for me it's really hard for me to change my ways now that I've been set in that style for so long. Oh, another thing, never give up on your child. I see too many families who go into the whole adoption scene without realizing what they're getting into, and when the child starts misbehaving and having troubles coping the parents give up and put them back into foster care. It just destroys the poor children even more.
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