Identifying Learning Problems in Adopted Children

When adopted kids struggle in school, clues from their past and present can help pinpoint the cause.

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By Annie Stuart

When you made the choice to adopt a child, you took a leap of faith at least one bound beyond that taken by other parents. And, if your child is challenged by learning or attention problems, your parenting path may now seem strewn with "speed bumps" caused by these overlapping issues.

Learning disabilities (LD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) are certainly not unique to adopted children. But as an overlay to adoption, they present unique challenges - and questions. For example, where does your child's pre-adoption history fit into the mix, along with genetics and her current environment? And how can you begin to interpret her personality or learning style when so much of her history is missing or incomplete?

Still, remember this: as the care-giving parent, you know your child best. Many highly capable adoptive parents who encounter LD and/or AD/HD for the first time often doubt their own parenting abilities until they understand the complexities of these disorders. Combine your intimate knowledge of your child with the information that follows. This may help you better identify, understand, and manage any learning difficulties your child has.

High Rates of AD/HD and LD Among Adopted Children

The Barker Foundation, the nation's first cooperative adoption agency, conducted a 1996 survey with the parents of 500 adopted children. Thirty percent of these children had some type of learning or attention problem. A 1991 New Jersey study by Brodzinsky and Steiger also looked at the high numbers of adoptees in special education. Adopted children made up about 5 to 7 percent of the children studied with neurological, perceptual, or emotional problems. Yet, they represented only 1 to 2 percent of the general population of children.

Could these kinds of numbers partly reflect a hawk-like vigilance common to caring adoptive parents, who are likely to follow up on any apparent problem? Possibly. Another reason may be that adopted children tend to have "externalized," or more visible, types of psychological problems. These might show up, for example, in the hyperactive and impulsive behavior often seen in AD/HD. Because parents find such behaviors more challenging, they often seek professional help sooner.

Potential Contributors to Learning Problems in Adoptees

Studies like those cited above have led researchers to further speculate about the causes of learning and emotional challenges in adopted children. Any of the following factors may contribute:

Your child's pre-adoption history:

• Poor prenatal care, including drug or alcohol exposure


• Complications at birth


• Malnutrition, neglect, abuse, or time spent in foster care or an orphanage


• Genetics

Your child's post-adoption history:

• Trouble learning a second language if adopted as an older child from a different country or culture


• Anxiety caused by dealing with having been adopted and the concept of birth parents having "given her away"


• Insecurity due to being a different race or simply having a different physical appearance than her adoptive parents


• Attachment problems, which are believed to result from a lack of reliable protection and nurturance early in life. This condition, which may disproportionately affect adopted children, interferes with a child's ability to form secure emotional bonds with her adoptive parents.
  

Early experiences that can lead to attachment disorder may also have a profound impact on a child's learning. That's because the brain pathways responsible for social perceptions, emotion, and empathy are the same ones that regulate communication and organization of memory. Higher levels of certain brain chemicals caused by chronic stress or trauma can damage a part of the brain called the hippocampus, making it hard to create and retain memories needed for learning.

Of course there are several factors other than adoption that may contribute to learning problems. Genetics may play a crucial role, particularly when it comes to AD/HD; there is a five-fold increase in the incidence of AD/HD among first-degree relatives. And don't overlook a broad range of other potential factors, including your child's current school situation, home, or social life.

Sorting Through the Complexity of Adoption Issues

It may be a challenge to sort out how all of these things affect your child's learning and development. You may want to start with some basic questions, such as these:

Your child's pre-adoption history:

• Do you know the birth parents'histories? If so, try to find out if there is a history of alcohol or drug abuse.


• Do you know if anyone in the child's birth family has a learning disability or AD/HD?


• Do you know if anyone in the child's birth family has a significant mental health disorder?


• What else can you learn about your child's pre-adoption history?

Your child's post-adoption history:

• Does your child seem plagued by anxiety? Does she have physical tics or obsessions? Does she talk about adoption in an anxious way or refuse to talk about it at all?


• Is your child very fearful, intolerant of physical closeness, or lacking in empathy? These can be signs of attachment problems.


• Was your child adopted at an older age and required to learn a second language in her adoptive home and country? Has this posed a problem for her?


• Is there a discrepancy between your child's apparent intellect and effort and her academic performance? If so, it's possible the core problem is a learning disability. If no specific learning disability is found, it's possible the core problem may be AD/HD (hyperactivity is not always present).

Answering these questions may help you begin to identify your child's main challenge and provide helpful information if you go ahead with a professional assessment. From time to time, also try to determine which issue - adoption or learning - is having a greater impact on your child. But remember that dealing with adoption may be the burning issue for your child, even when it remains a quiet, internal process. Following are some other approaches that may help you both.

Helping your Child Cope With Anxiety

Fears about the future are not uncommon in adopted children, particularly in those who were older when they were adopted. For this and other reasons, an adopted child may find times of transition trying. That's because the routines and structures that provide a sense of security are suspended. Fear can emerge around major changes like adjusting to a new teacher, or smaller ones like moving from one activity to another during the day.

An adopted child with a learning disability may worry that her birth parents placed her for adoption because she's "stupid." Intensifying things even more, children often become aware of these two differences - adoption and learning problems - at about the same time, at around age 6 or 7. Anxiety about all of this can further interfere with learning. As one first-grader put it, "The worry takes up too much of my brain, and then I can't think."

Here are a few ways you can help reduce your child's anxiety:

• Ease transitions, such as the beginning of the school year, by taking your child to tour her new classroom and meet her new teacher.


• Focus less on academics early in the school year and more on your child building relationships with her teacher and peers.


• Alert the teacher to times and places that might trigger painful memories in your child. Provide information about patterns observed at home. Share bits of your child's history (from before and after adoption) that you think the teacher may find helpful.


• Encourage your child to succeed, and show satisfaction with her progress. Balance this with realism so she doesn't get the message that perfection is a prerequisite for being allowed to stay with her "forever family." You may have invested a lot to create this family. Don't let that overburden you or your child with unreasonably high expectations.


• Let your child know that you understand learning isn't easy, but that you value and love her for who she is; tell her specific things you appreciate about her often.


• Celebrate small achievements and redefine success as "doing your best," rather than getting the highest grade.

Helping a Child with Attention Problems

If your child struggles with attention problems, you can try a few management strategies that will help you both a great deal. Establishing solid, clear communication with your child early on will help her both at school and at home.

Seeking Educational Evaluations

How will you know if your child needs extra help in school? First of all, trust your instincts. If you feel something isn't quite right, it won't hurt to seek advice. Early intervention is best. And having the problem identified may help you to stop taking things personally, while helping your child to become less frustrated. The first step may involve a pre-referral process through your public school. If additional assessment is needed, you can request either a school or private assessment. You may find referrals to private resources through community adoption support networks, your adoption agency, or a local mental health agency. If possible, find a trusted person who is knowledgeable about both assessment and adoption.

Keep Your Chin Up

By now, you know that the parenting path isn't always easy. Yours may have a few more twists and turns than most. And you may find it frustrating that usual sources of support - family and friends - lack sensitivity or understanding about adoption and LD or AD/HD. But a wealth of resources awaits you, including support groups for adoptive parents or for parents of kids with learning problems. Once your child has received a diagnosis, you can make progress in obtaining the support she needs, whether that's special education services or accommodations, tutoring, medical care, counseling, or a combination of these interventions. Even though there are some "speed bumps" in your path, just knowing where they are will allow you and your child to develop skills to navigate them safely. Just slow down, keep your destination in mind, and enjoy the journey.

References

• When Adoption and Learning-Attention Difficulties Overlap: The Impact on the Adoptive Family.
  Allen, R. Barker Foundation, 1996.


• ADHD and Conduct Disorder in Adopted Children
  by Barbara D. Ingersoll, PhD, ADHD Report/Russell A. Barkley & Associates (August 1998)


• Assessment "Blues" and Adoption
  by Janina Nadaner

http://www.greatschools.org/special-education/LD-ADHD/identifying-learning-problems-in-adopted-children.gs?content=822&page=1

New Movie features Art Therapy!

I haven't seen the movie yet...though I'm planning on it soon...but I was pleased to see that art therapy (also recreation and music therapy) was included in the movie "It's Kind of a Funny Story" as a part of this teen's treatment. Wonderful!

It's Kind of a Funny Story

Camerin Courtney | posted 10/08/2010 12:00

The movie starts on a bridge—both literally and figuratively. In the opening scene, distressed 16-year-old Craig (Keir Gilchrist) climbs out on a bridge. Filled with teenage angst inside and facing a crazy, messed-up world outside, Craig is overwhelmed and tempted to end it all.

When he wakes up and realizes he's just had another suicide-themed dream, and that they're getting more vivid, he also realizes he's teetering on a bridge between sanity and craziness. Afraid he's headed in a dangerous direction, he climbs out of bed without waking his parents or younger sister and bikes himself to the nearest hospital in his Brooklyn neighborhood.

After explaining to the attending physician his stress over his demanding pre-professional magnet school, his crush on his best friend's girlfriend, his forthcoming application to a prestigious summer program, his over-busy father and overwrought mother, his tendency to puke when stressed, not to mention global warming and the economy—as well as his suicide dreams and the fact that he recently took himself off Zoloft—Craig gets himself checked into the psych ward.

Keir Gilchrist as Craig

Since the teen wing is under renovation, Craig is put in with the adults for his five-day minimum stay. He's soon introduced to Bobby (Zach Galifianakis), the gregarious man-child who shows him around 3 North (the adult wing) and introduces him to the amenities (the art room, the rec room) and the locals (the doped-out, the delusional, and the delightful Noelle, a fellow displaced teen).

At first Craig is even more stressed—he was hoping for a quick cure that wouldn't keep him out of school for so long. And he's a bit freaked out by all the people who are dealing with more serious issues, like his mumbling, bed-bound roommate. Instead of rescuing him, Craig's parents arrive with some of his things and the advice to do whatever the doctors recommend.

Zach Galifianakis as Bobby

In the following days Craig attends art therapy, has meandering and meaningful conversations with Bobby, slowly opens his heart to Noelle (Emma Roberts), tries to get to the root of his issues with Dr. Minerva (Viola Davis), and tries to explain to his friends via the payphone in the hall where he is and why. It's in all these human interactions that the magic of the movie happens—the a-ha moments, the small awakenings, the baby steps toward a healthier reality.

The most compelling moments are between Craig and Bobby. Their conversations are deep and revealing without seeming too clever or overwritten. Gilchrist and Galifianakis imbue their characters with warmth, wit, and quirky charm. Only Craig's parents (Lauren Graham and Jim Gaffigan) start to veer into caricature territory with some of their classic yuppie faults.

Sure, this is a relatively sanitized look at depression and other mental disorders, but then again 3 North is a temporary facility for those who struggle. The hard-core cases would be in a more permanent location. Thankfully the film avoids some common trappings of movie mental wards—out of touch doctors, sadistic orderlies, rampant overmedication. These patients are merely people on the verge—walking that tightrope with brokenness, pluck, and yes, some only-in-the-movies charm.

Emma Roberts as Noelle

Though most of the film happens in the hospital ward, there are a couple scenes of stylization—when Craig draws some intricate city scenes that come to life and when all the patients sing a rousing version of "Under Pressure" in music therapy class and are magically transformed into a rocking music video. The latter scene is a lovely tribute to the way music and community can elevate us for a few joyful, transcendent moments.

What seeps through all these scenes is a surprising, compelling celebration of life. The film seems to be communicating that life is crazy, and those who stop—and sometimes need to check in—to acknowledge that are merely wise enough to embrace the truth and seek the help they need to navigate the maze. In the moving forward, in the coming together to help those who need it, there is hope. The film doesn't depict an eternal hope, but a hope based on friendship, love, communication, music, art, laughter, truth—some of the better things offered to us by the One who is eternal hope.

The scenes between Bobby and Craig are the best part of the film

The ending is a bit pat and over-sweet, but the voiceover kind of acknowledges that, which somehow makes it mostly okay. They can't all be tragic endings, right? The beauty here is that a movie about depression and people on the verge can be a sweet, funny, life-affirming story. And perhaps that's the funniest part about this charming little film.

Other reviews' references to art therapy in the movie:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130195398

"After quickly decoding his own plight — with some help from art therapy and the ward's shrink (Viola Davis) — Craig starts fixing other patients."

http://www.fdhsnews.com/2010/11/08/its-kind-of-a-funny-story/

"Accordingly, Craig’s drawings, or “brain maps,” serve as an animated entree into his vivid imagination and bring the audience more insight into the character. Inspired by the book’s original cover, Curious Pictures, a New York-based company specializing in animation, design, and graphics, produced the sequences. Animation/paintings creative supervisor Dominie Mahl recruited Brian Drucker, an artist with a background in architecture, to submit an illustration for consideration.

The animator adds, “This story affected me, so I wanted to keep a human scale and touch to the drawings. I drew by hand, then colored in with the computer and built up everything into three dimensions.” Mahl elaborated, “Given Craig’s age, we had to make sure that the work was done to display natural talent but not years of experience. Given the particular stage of his life that he’s in, the colors had to be more thoughtful than perky. This artwork comes forth as something of a revelation for Craig.”

Boden comments, “With his drawings, Craig rediscovers a hidden artistic talent-and is encouraged to do so by his fellow patients and through art therapy.”

http://blog.beliefnet.com/moviemom/2010/10/its-kind-of-a-funny-story.html

"Art and music therapy help him think of what he can express instead of how he will be evaluated."

http://youmakemefeellessalone.blogspot.com/2010/10/ned-vizzini-and-its-kind-of-funny-story.html

Ned Vizzini, age 29. Los Angeles, CA. (author of the book the movie is based on)

"When I went into a psychiatric hospital for a week-long stay for depression and 'suicidal ideation' in November 2004, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands. Although I'm a writer by profession I decided to try and do abstract art. I limited my color palette and tried to just make pleasing shapes with Cray-Pas on paper. The goal was to see the colors blend well and to bring motion to the composition. I ended up really liking these drawings, and I used the art-therapy angle when I made the main character of my subsequent novel It's Kind of a Funny Story draw 'brain maps' during his own hospital stay. In a real way, these are the drawings that inspired the brain maps."

Watch the trailer below:

Press Release for Creative Wellbeing Workshops, LLC

November 2010

Gioia Chilton, MA, ATR-BC and Rebecca Wilkinson, MA, ATR-BC have just launched
their new business, Creative Wellbeing Workshops, LLC. Creative Wellbeing
Workshops provides interactive training and workshops that blend the cutting
edge research of positive psychology, the "science of well-being," with the
benefits of art therapy.

Gioia and Rebecca started this work several years ago, after being introduced to
Positive Psychology by Lani Gerity. Rebecca and Gioia were struck by the
relevance of positive psychology to art therapy and the complimentary potential
of the two fields.

Positive psychology is the study of positive emotions, positive character, and
the positive institutions and communities that facilitate their development.
Positive psychologists suggest that the prevailing model of psychology, with its
focus on illness and symptoms, does not reflect a balanced view of human
potential and that focusing on strengths, increasing positive emotions, and
identifying meaning and hope may be more effective in increasing wellbeing.
These principles fit naturally with art therapy which has long been valued for
its ability to showcase and develop clients' strengths and to improve quality of
life.

Gioia and Rebecca have suggested a new term, "Positive Art Therapy" which
combines the healing potential of art therapy with the empowering focus of
positive psychology. Positive art therapy utilizes the creative process to
enhance positive emotions, identify and develop positive character and
strengths, and foster positive communities. They are looking to partner with
other art therapists, artists, mental health practitioners, positive
psychologists, community organizations, educational and governmental
institutions, who are interested in promoting the connection between creativity
and wellbeing.

Creative Wellbeing Workshops works with individuals seeking to feel happier,
more engaged, more creative, in their personal and professional lives; with
organizations and employers wishing to foster greater job satisfaction and
higher productivity in their employees; and with mental health practitioners who
wish re-energize their practice by incorporating state of the art research on
well-being and creativity into their practice.

Gioia and Rebecca, who have been friends since attending GW in the early 90's,
are enjoying the new direction their work is taking them. "We love doing this
work and our participants can tell. They really enjoy the fun we have
together—and it's really fabulous seeing the transformation that people undergo
as they explore these new concepts." Visit Gioia and Rebecca's website at
http://www.creativewellbeingworkshops.com/
, or contact them directly at either r.wilkinson@creativewellbeingworkshops.com
or g.chilton@creativewellbeingworkshops.com. or 202 352 5225.

References:

Chilton, G. & Wilkinson, R.A. (2009). Positive art therapy: Envisioning the
intersection of art therapy and positive psychology. Australia and New Zealand
Journal of Art Therapy, 4(1), 27-35.


Gerity, L. (2007). The Artist's Happiness Challenge Condensed Version.
Available from:
http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/happiness-challenge-condensed-version/2990086

Mental Introspection Increases as Brain Areas Begin to Act in Sync

ScienceDaily (Nov. 16, 2010) — Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center can now show, using functional MRI images, why it is that behavior in children and young adolescents veers toward the egocentric rather than the introspective.

In findings presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego on Nov. 14, the researchers say that the five scattered regions in the brain that make up the default-mode network (DMN) have not started working in concert in youngsters aged six to nine. These areas light up in an fMRI scan, but not simultaneously.

The DMN is only active when the mind is at rest and allowed to wander or daydream. This network is believed to be key in how a person introspectively understands themselves and others, and forms beliefs, intentions, and desires through autobiographical memory.

By ages 10 to 12, the researchers found that these diffuse regions start functioning together as a unit, and at ages 13 to19, they acted in concert, just like they do in adults.

"These results suggest that children develop introspection over time as their brains develop," says the study's first author, neuroscientist Stuart Washington, Ph.D., who will be presenting the results. "Before then they are somewhat egocentric, which is not to mean that they are negatively self-centered, but they think that everyone views the world in the same way they do. They lack perspective in that way."

In this study, the researchers sought to understand if connectivity between distant regions in the brain increases with age. They chose the DMN to study in part because it consists of a widespread system of neuronal nodes that work together, but are linked in a way that is not yet well understood. (These discrete nodes could be physically connected by neuronal synapses or they could fire together and not be connected.)
Previous research has suggested that the DMN is not well synchronized in many autistic individuals, and this may explain the perceptions many of these individuals express in testing -- a viewpoint that is also seen in younger children who do not have autism, Washington says.

An example that illustrates the difference between an egocentric and an introspective view is the simple puzzle, Washington says: "Jane" walks into a room, and puts a marble in a closet, and then "Bill" comes in and takes the marble out of the closet and puts it into a box. Jane comes back in and looks for the marble and she has not spoken to Bill. Where does she look for the marble?

The right answer, of course, is that she looks in the closet. But many autistic individuals say Jane looks in the box, "because they know that the marble is in the box and they think that everyone else knows that," Washington says. The ability to see the world from the perspective of others is called "Theory of Mind" (ToM) and certain nodes of the DMN have been associated with it. The failure to develop ToM seen in many autistics individuals and younger children may lie in asynchronous firing of the DMN, Washington says.
In this study, the research team enrolled 42 participants: 10 individuals which were aged six to 9; 12 were aged 10 to 12; 9 individuals which were aged 13 to19, and 10 were aged 22 to 27 years. The scientists' goal was to study the development of functional connectivity between the anterior and posterior nodes of DMN across the four age groups.

They gave the participants a task to perform, but the scientists were actually interested in recording brain activity that took place after the task was over, when the patients were told to rest.
In the group of children ages six to nine, the researchers saw the same kind of lack of synchronicity seen in older autistic children, Washington says.

The older participants in this study were, the more in sync the DMN functioned, reaching a plateau in adulthood, he says. Significant differences were noted between children and adolescents, and children and adults, he adds. "These increases in functional connectivity coincide with introspective mental activity that has been shown to emerge during adolescence."

The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development.

Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101114190819.htm

MANDALA Life Cycle Level 2 Course

MANDALAS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Integrating color and form A Life Cycle Level 2 Advanced Intensive
A 20 hour course with a certificate of completion and CEU’s available

DATE:    February 11-13, 2011

                          Friday-1:00 - 5:00 pm,  Saturday and Sunday (9:00 - 5:00 pm)

PLACE:   Round Oaks Creative Center,   1443 Glenside Green, Charlottesville, VA 22901

434-973-7543     pframe79@aol.com

COST:     $325

INSTRUCTORS: 

 PHYLLIS FRAME, M.A., ATR is the founder and director of the Round Oaks Creative Center, offering expressive therapies, especially work with mandalas and sand tray to professionals.   She has taught Mandala courses and presented nationally, publishing widely on the mandala theory and research.  Phyllis studied with Joan Kellogg and has contributed significantly  to the development and use of mandala theory.

CAROLE MCNAMEE, PhD, LMFT, is the founder and director of Willowbank Creative Center in Blacksburg, VA, offering  traditional and expressive therapies.  She has been leading mandala groups since 2004 and has presented regionally and nationally on the expressive arts and healing.  

 DESCRIPTION OF Intensive

This advanced intensive is intended for those with previous training in the Life Cycle theory and is meant to deepen

 understanding of this material. There will be an emphasis on color and form in mandala expressions throughout the Life cycle. The intensive will include a review of the Life cycle theory, theory associated with color and form found in mandala drawings, relationship of mandala theory to the chakra system, current research and ethics. Learning opportunities will include didactic presentation, experiential activities, small group work.  In addition, opportunities for personal sharing and supervision will be provided.  Please be sure that you have obtained releases for any client work that you bring for supervision.

Please send your non-refundable deposit of $95 to Phyllis Frame, 1443 Glenside Green, Charlottesville, VA 22901.  Call 434-974-7543 or e-mail pframe79@aol.com for questions or further information.  Housing, and directions with a map will be sent upon receipt of your deposit.  Please register as early as possible.  Bring your workbook from previous courses (you may purchase a Round Oaks workbook if needed),

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REGISTRATION: Mandalas and the Development of Consciousness Feb. 11-13, 2011

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ADDRESS…………………………………………………………………………………………

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