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When reading profiles, going over files, etc what are subtle red flags? On pre-placement visits what are signs - I am very familiar with the RAD list - eye contact, control issues etc. I have read Nancy Thomas books and watched her video tapes.

RAD children can be very convincing - also, teens know they are harder to place and may put on a good show up front. Also being in the system longer, increases their manipulation skills. Any good ways to help tell what is really 'real' and what isn't?

Thanks!

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Originally Posted By Waiting in TN

I'm far from an expert, but I found what seemed to me like possible RAD signs in a 12-yr-old child we'd been selected for last year, and so I began asking more questions. The responses to the questions seemed to support my hunch, so we decided not to be matched. I may have been wrong, but I'd read so much about it that I had to follow my hunch.

The signs were some phrases in a psych evaluation -- "has traits that may signal a future personality disorder", "can be syrupy sweet", were a couple I remember. A mention of her being "rough" with animals. And I found virtually nothing positive to balance those comments out. No mention of her ever having any attachment with anyone. She was being placed with a younger brother, but in the pictures of them, he had an arm around her, while hers were wrapped around herself. I got an appointment for a phone conference with her therapist, but he didn't keep it; he finally called 2 weeks later, and left a very curt disinterested message without leaving his phone number.

Still, I have wondered if I jumped to the wrong conclusion. Also, having read about successful RAD therapy, I no longer consider it necessarily a hopeless condition, as I did at first. Just my 2 cents.

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Originally Posted By Dr. Arthur Becker-Weidman

Research on adoptable children in U.S. foster care clearly shows that 50% of adoptable children have symptoms of attachment disorder and 80% of maltreated infants have such symptoms.

If the teen was removed from his/her birth parents because of abuse or neglect and the history of the neglect is significant and the child was in the home for 2+ years before removal, then it is very likely that the child has Reactive Attachment Disorder. In addtion, if the child has had 3+ placements after removal from the birth home, it is very likely the child will have RAD. If the child has both sets of circumstances, it is nearly a certainty that the child has RAD...especially if the child is a teen. There are many sub-types of RAD and not all are angry, aggressive, and violent. The saddest cases are those children who are superficially engaging and appear "normal" because they are "as-if" children attempting to figure out what you want.

Arthur Becker-Weidman, Ph.D.,
Center For Family Development
5820 Main St., suite 406
Williamsville, NY 14221
716-810-0790

AWeidman@Concentric.net

http://www.Center4FamilyDevelop.com