Newsletter #57 for Internationally Adopting Parents
April 19, 2007
PAL Center Inc.

Latest Articles
from the
International Adoption Articles Directory

Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW
The Long Arm of Domestic Violence
Domestic violence affects behavior in the present and future...

Monica Craft
The Need of Behavior modification for Teens
Behavior modification programs are able to assist teens that need change. Teen help in the form of behavior modification can be a real boon for parents and teenagers alike. These programs are designed to help with early intervention and with long term problems, effectively deterring old behaviors and choices and helping the teens see new appropriate choices and behaviors that will give them winning results. These programs are available in both short term and long term options.

Behavior Issues Are On The Rise

At the BGCenter we see internationally adopted children with disabilities, with typical and expected cognitive and language delays, and we sometime see children whose development is age-appropriate and close to normal. What we also observe now more often than before is the rise of unexpected behavioral issues months after the arrival when, as one would think, the children have already settled after the initial adjustment period.

There are certain reasons why an adopted child, after a period of seemingly normal behavior, suddenly goes out of control: he or she may simply become more comfortable in the new environment, and trust the parents not to send them back to the orphanage if they misbehave (as many children believe may happen to them long after the adoption). And certainly there are old traumatic experiences that may be stirred accidentally; or ADHD, or other neurologically induced disorder have surged again.
One more possible trigger is the renewed demand for a better command of English, when the initial "forgiveness" on the part of the peer group is gone and the child feels that he or she is still not like all the rest because of the lack of proper English. That's where emotional and behavioral problems can kick in.

We have already talked about such problems and will continue publications on behavior issues related to identifiable causes in adoptees. In the collection of articles from our database below we just want to attract your attention to general population issues which effect internationally adopted children as well.

Mark Lakewood
Anti-Bullying Skills and Techniques for Children
As a society, we spend too much of our energy identifying and punishing the bully that we fail to spend enough time empowering the victims of bullying. We should spend more of our energy on the things that we can control rather than the things we have limited or no control over.

Accendo Academy
Are You Doing Enough to Protect Your Troubled Teen from Media Influence?
Many well-intentioned parents go to great lengths to protect their children from exposure to violence, sex, and profanity in the media. But in today’s child-hostile media environment, such precautions are simply not enough. To truly protect your children from harmful influences, you must learn to look beyond arbitrary ratings to the messages being conveyed by the media.

Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW
Assessing and Managing School-Age Children with Behavioral Problems
Assessing behavior in school-age children is more than simply identifying a few problems and if you don't get it right, you can make matters worse. This article defines a good assessment process...

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