Children with attachment disorders feel their safety is constantly threatened. Life has shown the child it is too risky to trust someone who is bigger, stronger, and smarter to protect them. These children tend to have radar tuned into keeping safe. This can interfere with usual childhood learning experiences and development.
Other side effects from attachment disorders can contribute to behaviors that baffle, frustrate and drain even the most determined adoptive parents. These behaviors will be discussed at length in the next several Blogs.
Some of the side effect behaviors seen in children with attachment disorders are:
- Opposition.
- Control.
- Conscience Development.
- Stealing and Jealousy.
- Thinking errors.
- Anger and Rage.
- Feeling.
- Requesting and Meeting the Requests.
- Decision-Making
During the next few Blogs each of the issues above will be discussed and how these behaviors relate to attachment will be looked at very carefully. It is important that adoptive parents not become discouraged if one or more of the above issues is or has been a problem for your child. Many children have problems in these areas and may not have attachment disorders our job as adoptive parents is to consider which of these problem areas are a result of an attachment disorder and which are a part of our child’s personality and general development.
As an adoptive parent learns to recognize the red-flags for attachment disorders, they can discover a variety of parenting methods that have worked to help children overcome and heal. The important thing to keep in mind about attachment disorders is that in most cases children heal and completely recover from any difficulties they may have with attachment. It is actually very rare for children to develop the most extreme forms of attachment disorders such as Reactive Attachment Disorder.
If you are an adoptive parent and concerned that your child may have an attachment disorder keep a journal and as you become more educated about what is happening with your child you may find ways to bridge the healing. If you know you are dealing with serious attachment issues please feel free to visit my personal website for some support.
Special Needs and Adoption-Related Terms:
A | B | C | D | E-F | G-H-I | J-K-L | M | N-O | P | Q-R | S | T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z
For more information about parenting special needs children you might want to visit the Families.com Special Needs Blog and the Mental Health Blog. Or visit my personal website.
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