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While doing all the paperwork for Hannah’s adoption there was a list of books and other things we could do to earn “credit” for pre-adoption education. On the list was a book that I was a contributing author to. Honestly, I had forgotten about writing for it since it was an easy topic for me to write on, and required very little effort on my part, although I did find it amusing that I could get credit for reading a book that I contributed to.
The book is, “Adoption Parenting: Creating a Toolbox, Building Connections” by EMK Press. It is a fantastic book, and I’m not just saying that because I contributed to it. It is a great book because it is written by adoptive parents. The parents who live in the trenches every day and can tell you exactly what it’s like to parent a child with a traumatic past. There are parts of the book that deal with international adoption, but the majority of the book applies to foster children as well.
The chapters include:
• Getting started
• Sleep
• Claiming (could also be called attachment)
• Language
• Food
• Baggage
• Discipline
• Loss and Grief
• Transitions
• Siblings
• Narratives
• Learning
• School
• Race
• Older Child Adoption
• Challenges
• Support
• Therapy
• Journey
As you can tell, the chapters encompassing every part of parenting imaginable. It is nearly 500 pages of information that every adoptive parent should have.
Each chapter contains short articles (two – three pages) by the contributing author. Those of us who wrote articles were asked to do so because it is in area that we are extremely knowledgeable about. For example, my section is on dealing with abuse allegations. Others deal with adopting sibling groups, gay and lesbian parents, transracial adoption, schooling issues, disabilities and disorders such as fetal alcohol, sensory integration and many others.
This book is written for parents who are everyday regular people, not professionals, and the articles are written that way.
The “Journey” section is incredibly valuable. It contains letters, articles and short quotes from adoptive parents as well as adoptees that what adopted children wish their adoptive parents knew about how they felt and still feel. They are powerful statements.
If you want a book that combines many resources in one place, this is the one you need. There are several pages of resources ranging from websites to therapists to books.
For more information, go to the EMK Press website.
Photo credit – Kelly Killian
