[AMANDASMOM]

My 14 yo daughter was diagnosed as Reactive Attachment Disorder before I met her five years ago. She had been in many foster homes and suffered some outright abuse in several homes. This is documented in her file. She had been in FC for since she was 4. We adopted her at age 12 after having her with us since she was 10. We have gone through therapy and we have educated ourselves on strategies to deal with her behavior. For the last several years she has been great. She is loving and caring with us and others. She still has issues that we deal with in therapy but we feel that she is doing well. I think any human (or animal) that went through what she did would have difficulties trusting adults.
Today she had her physical for school. The Dr. wrote on the form that she has RAD. I didn't see what the Dr. wrote until we got home. When is the label no longer appropriate? If you are no longer showing signs of RAD do you still have it? I really didn't think that the Dr. should have included it on the form. There is no reason for the school to know. She has never had any trouble at school and she is a good student. I fear that the label may exclude her from some scholarships or may make teachers and counselors look at her in a different way. What does everyone think?

[Kansas Girl]

I'm glad your daughter is doing well!

I think that's unfortunate the doctor wrote that on her physical form.....will the school actually know what it is? I would remind the doctor about HIPAA - he should have never given that information out!

Just like any other disease or disorder, RAD should not be a label for life. RAD may be a part of our child's life, but it sure doesn't have to define who they are. Your daughter sounds like a great example of how a child can be healed. We only discuss "RAD" with our therapist and for anyone else, if we give them any explanation at all, we say our son has attachment issues. I still hope that someday I can say he has been "cured". There may be some conditions where the label should be out there (i.e. mental illness or autism) but I don't think RAD should be one of them.

Just as a side note, not to hijack this thread, but this is a good example of how the terms like "Radish" and "Radlet" are so wrong...

Fran

[DianeS]

Personally, I'd call the doctor back and find out exactly what he meant when he wrote "RAD" on the form. And perhaps get a form where he doesn't abbreviate.

I googled "RAD" and found it can stand for many things:
--Reactive Airway Disease, a.k.a. Reactive Airways Dysfunction Syndrome (RADS)
--Reactive attachment disorder, an emotional disorder
--Right Axis Deviation, a heart condition where the electrical conduction of the heart is beyond normal limits

You get the idea. Abbreviations are fine in forums like this when everybody knows what you're talking about, but not so good on a general form when you don't know what the background is of the person who will be reading it.

(This may not have anything to do with what you're asking, but if he truly wrote "RAD" on a physical form without explanation, he really needs to improve his communication skills before someone misunderstands him and it causes problems for the child.)

[AMANDASMOM]

Today I talked to my daughter's therapist who agreed that Amanda no longer meets the criteria of Reactive Attachment Disorder (yeah) and that it should not have been on the physical form. Actually several of her other medical specialists (like her cardiologist) have also included it on reports. Her therapist is going to write a letter that I can take with me to my daughter's doctors to get them to stop using the Reactive Attachment Disorder label. I really doubt if any of them fully know what it is anyway.

[ProspectiveSingleMom]

RAD is very misundersood in the medical community, and it's great that the therapist is willing to advocate for your daughter. I'm also glad to hear of a case where a child adopted at an older age was still able to overcome her RAD symptoms. I am hoping to adopt a 12 year old girl who has a diagnosis of RAD, and based on what I saw when I worked with her at a previous job, I really think she has potential for improvement. One thing that makes me think so is that she showed a good level of insight into her problems. I don't harbor any delusions about a "magical cure" for RAD, though. I would not considering adopting this girl if I didn't feel that I could handle her behaviors as they are now. Do you feel that your daughter's original diagnosis of RAD was accurate?

[AMANDASMOM]

I would encourage you to give the 12 yo a chance. I am not saying your life will be easy but it is very rewarding. As far a whether my daughter was really RAD, I am not positive. I met her after she had been in 10 or more foster homes. She also displayed insight into her problems as you say your potential daughter does. RIght away I kind of let her behavior lead the way as far as how we treated her. She needed to go through acting younger (like a baby with nursery rhymes, piggy on the toes, etc. ) while she was talking tough and trying to sound older. She was an extreme challenge at times but she was always able to talk afterwards to work through it. We spend hours reading books on attachement and getting ideas of how we needed to react. We had no other kids at home and I think that helped so we could focus on her. Good luck with your daughter. Think of where she will be if you don't take her.