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special needs adoption

cjsbdlcjsbdl member
in Adoption

Has anyone here adopted a special needs child? My husband and I feel like we may want to consider this. I'd love to hear feedback from anyone who has taken a special needs child--whether emotional or physical needs--into their home. Are there any resources you can point us to?

Thank you very much!

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Re: special needs adoption

  • CaptainSeriousCaptainSerious member

    "Special needs" means different things depending on which type of adoption and which program you are using.  My husband and I are adopting a toddler/"older child," which some agencies/programs consider special needs adoptions.  This is due to the fact that many of these children will suffer delays or emotional issues due to neglect/malnutrition/losses.  A great book on this topic is "Toddler Adoption:  A Weaver's Craft."

    We also specified a range of delays/disabilities/medical conditions we would be open to in a referral, ranging from heat problems to cleft palate or club foot.  Since we're not sure if our child will be perfectly healthy (we specified that we would consider siblings if they are both generally healthy) or have one of these special needs, it is difficult to prepare for, and I haven't really found any specific books dealing with "special needs" in general.  I have a feeling it's much easier to find reading material once the child's specific needs are identified.

     

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  • MyColonyNJMyColonyNJ

    Hello from TTTC!

    We are going to be doing adoption from the foster care system in our state.  In our state, mostly 100% of children in the foster care system are considered special needs/

    Sound horrible, right?  not really.  They are considered special needs for many reasons - some of which are NOT special needs.

    Things like age, a sibling group, a baby abandoned at the hospital, a toddler removed due to malnourishment, and "older" child.  Personally, I really do not consider these "special needs"

    Now, yes, of course the special needs are also Development delay, medical problems, bahavior problems, drug exposed baby, etc are also in the system as well.

    So, like the pp said - "special needs" really mean so many differnt things.  Plus each agency may differ from their defination

    Good Luck to you

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  • kirstenw05kirstenw05

    In my experience "special needs" can be helpful in some ways. My DD was born with drugs in her system and was about 6 weeks preemie, so she is considered Special Needs. She had about 6 weeks or so of withdrawals, and was born with a small hole in her heart. At 3 mo, she saw a cardiologist (all free due to her being foster/adopt and she is on MediCal) and the hole is healing on its own perfectly. She is still developmentally only at her "adjusted" preemie age (so, she is 6 months old, but really only 4.5 months old, so she does what a 4.5 month old baby does, not a 6 mo old baby), but other than that she is perfect.

     They said it would take about 2 years for her to fully catch up, and if there are any effects from the drugs, they wont show until school age, but we dont think that will happen she is basically perfect, but the state considers her "special needs"

    This opens her up to assistance, programs and all sorts of stuff we would never be able to afford without her designation.

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