SUGGESTED READING ON ADOPTION ISSUES
Below are a list of readings and videos that you may find helpful.
To order these materials or obtain additional information, visit your local book store or contact Spaulding for Children at (248) 443-0300 or visit their website at www.spaulding.org
Books
Brodzinsky, David M., et. al., Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self.
Authors have used the voices of adoptee themselves to trace their adoption experiences from infancy through late adulthood. This book utilizes Erikson's seven stage life cycle as its model to address these developmental life experiences.
Delaney, Richard, Troubled Transplants: Unconventional Strategies for Helping Disturbed Foster and Adoptive Children.
This book is a useful tool for both professionals and parents alike when dealing with foster and adoptive children with psychological issues. Activities and ideas are practical and easy to understand.
Fahlberg, Vera, M.D., A Child's Journey through Placement, 1991.
Provides information for professionals and parents to support children who've experienced foster care and other out-of-home placement. Serves as an example of what children available for adoption may have experienced.
Girard, Linda Walvoord, Adoption is for Always.
This book helps children explore their questions and concerns about adoption in a safe and loving way through the story of a child who was adopted at birth.
Hickman, Martha Whitmore, Robert Lives with his Grandparents, 1995.
This book deals with the struggles youth face when they go to live with grandparents when their own parents are unable to care for them. Robert loves his grandparents but is embarrassed that he lives with them. He goes on to discover that some of his other classmates don't live with their parents, either, which makes him feel better.
Jarrat-Jewett, Claudia, Helping Children Cope With Separation, 1994.
Explains the grieving process children experience through adoption, separation from birth family or foster parents, or through death or divorce.
Joy, Deborah Berry, Benjamin Bear, 1988.
Children's book addressing the feelings many children experience resulting from their birth parents' inability to care for them, and on their subsequent adoption. Opportunities and guidelines are provided for discussion.
Johnson, Patricia Irwin, Adoption is a Family Affair! What Relatives and Friends Must Know, 2001.
This book is based upon real life experiences of adoptive families dealing with issues of forming a new family model and their experiences with friends and relatives. It serves as a tool for those who care about adoptive families, and helps them to gain a better understanding of their experience.
Kupecky, Regina M., LSW & Christine Murphy, A Foster-Adoption Story: Angela and Michael's Journey, 2009
This therapeutic workbook tells the story of a brother and sister who experience abuse, neglect, multiple foster care moves, separation from each other and eventually adoption. It encourages children to talk about their own experiences as they read about kids just like themselves.
Price, Jerome A., et. al., the Right to Be the Grown-up: Helping Parents Be Parents to Their Difficult Teens, 2003.
This handbook assists parents in dealing with the special problems that youth face today, and offers strategies to address them. This book is highly recommended for wary parents of troubled adolescents, and was developed by the Michigan Family Institute.
Zisk, Mary, the Best Single Mom in the World: How I Was Adopted, 2001.
This book is written for children ages 4-8 years old. The story discusses how excited a child is about her adoption by a single mother. The story also addresses how the single mother wanted to share her life with a child. There are beautiful illustrations to go along with this cute story.
Videotapes
"Attention Deficit Disorder," Dr. John Baugh.
This videotape explains how to identify children who are experiencing hyperactivity and offers suggestions on how to help them. (20 minutes)
"Black Boys Are Wonderful," Institute for Black Parenting, Los Angeles, CA.
This video consists of boys presenting in their own words, the plight of African American boys of all ages who are backlogged in the child welfare system waiting for permanent adoptive homes. (16 minutes)
"First, they're Children," Spaulding for Children and Michigan Department of Mental Health, 1989.
This videotape depicts the experiences of families rearing children with developmental disabilities. (25 minutes)
"Multiple Transitions: A Young Child's Point of View on Foster Care and Adoption," The Infant Parent Institute, 1997.
This video employs a unique format: there are not adults-or even adult voices-to be seen or heard. The script attempts to distill what children would teach us about what it feels like to be moved; and how their behavior changes as a result, including their emotional availability for new attachments. The film also provides suggestions on how these situations could be better handled. (16 minutes)