International Adoption Dr

We live in a smaller city so I knew that we would need to travel a little ways to a bigger city with more options for T.  Riley Children's Hospital is covered through our insurance so we made an appointment for him to see the doctor that specialized in children adopted internationally.

Let's go back in time for just a moment:  T. was evaluated when he first came home by an international adoption doctor.  At that time, he was 12 months old.  One evaluation or observation that was noted was "Due to post-institutionalization, he is at risk for difficulties with sensory processing and should be monitored closely for future growth and development."  My thinking....oh, we "rescued" him in enough time.   He won't have any of those problems!

Fast forward to 2012....another visit to the international adoption doctor.  She felt that T. missed out on some crucial building blocks in mental health as an infant.  He is having difficulties being able to handle his emotions and fitting in with his peers.   She recommended that we see a psychologist at Riley to help T. with some coping skills that he could use instead of having meltdowns.
So we didn't really get any answers but thought okay...let's go see a psychologist and go from there.

While seeing the psychologist, T. was a handful.  He would do somersaults in the office while she was talking to us.  He was totally not my normal T.  She tried to teach him to deep breath and other coping strategies, but he was 4 at the time.  Nothing she was doing was making any sense to him.  I was still pushing for an occupational therapy evaluation because I knew in my heart that he was having sensory issues which was prohibiting him from sitting still.   We finally received the referral and met with an occupational therapist that specializes in internationally adopted children.

T. had his occupational therapy evaluation when he was almost 6 years old.  She found that he has difficulty with emotional/behavioral regulation, difficulty managing anxiety and stress, difficulty calming with upset or excited, and difficulty being comfortable with environmental stimuli.  He also has inefficient processing of tactile, proprioceptive, and vestibular body information.  He also exhibits low core postural muscle strength.   She also noticed auditory over responsivity with negative responses to everyday sounds.   She recommended clinic based occupational therapy plus a home program to help him meet his goals.  The only issue was that this clinic was 3 1/2 hours away!! I had to try to find a clinic closer to home so he could go once a week.

Adopted at 12 months!! Will he really have "post orphanage" behaviors?!

In the adoption world, there is so much talk about negative behaviors that come out of being in an orphanage.  The main reason for this, in my opinion, is that the needs of these infants are not being met.  In the first 12 months of life, the brain is basically like a stack of blocks and all of those blocks need to fit perfectly together.  When a baby cries and is not comforted, that block doesn't get fit perfectly where it needs to go.  These babies learn to self soothe (ex. rocking back and forth, head banging, thumb sucking, etc.) because they know that if they cry, no one will come for them.  So, in turn, those blocks of the brain never get fit perfectly into place.
So, with that being said, we thought that by getting T at 12 months old, we would hopefully get him "early enough" that he wouldn't have any neglect issues.  From 12 months - about 3 years old, T did not respond well with other kids.  At the park, he would love going down the slides and swing, but if other kids were around, he would stay close to us.  I just contributed it to the fact that he wasn't really around other kids anymore and preferred adults. 
At age 3 1/2, T became a big brother through adoption.  Wow....what a major adjustment!!!  T did not do well with someone else taking my attention, which is common for any older sibling.   But he was different.  T started acting out more, having major meltdowns, started wetting the bed again, and being "down right mean" at times.   So my husband and I were torn...is this typical 3 1/2 year old behavior or is this something more?  We worked with him on his behavior by using positive reinforcement (or trying anyway!) and making sure that he got alone time with each parent.  After about a year, we felt that the adjustment period was over and that T needed some help with how to overcome his behaviors and action.

Next Stop:  International Adoption Doctor

Following Along on My Journey

Hi all!!  I am inviting you to follow along on my journey of finding the missing links in my hyper child, T.  The journey for us started when T. was 3 1/2.  He is now 7 1/2.  T has always been on the move!  He was the toddler that jumped up and down instead of standing still.  He would flap his arms if he didn't get his way.  When T would get in trouble, he would throw a tantrum and hold his breath until he passed out.  Lovely, huh?! 
I remember the first time he did that.  We were at Babies R Us and he had a package in his hand and started chewing on the package.  He was able to pull a small section of cardboard off and had it in his mouth.  I had to open his mouth to get it out.  He started crying but made no sound.  He held his breath, turned blue, and then finally started screaming.  I almost started CPR on him!!! 
Fast forward to now, T is in first grade and doing well.  He has been through occupational therapy, chiropractor services, essential oils, etc. and so on.  I plan on doing my best of blogging through everything that I have tried for him up until now.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. 

Becky