Anyone familiar with RAD reactive attachment disorder??

[Robbin]

HI all, I have been AWOL for quite awhile. Too busy working pt and keeping the kids inline and straight?? Yeah right?? I can dream, right?

Anyhow, the older of the two, has Asperger's. The younger who is only 4 months younger by adoption from Ukraine at the age of 3.5, has RAD, lots of symptoms and signs anyway.

He has been seeing a therapist for 3 years now and has gotten somewhat better with his emotions. Wil not attach completley to us yet, but has come along way.

He is having TERRIBLE problems in school, it seems to be cyclical. This is his time to really fall off the wagon. His worst problem(s) are lying and stealing, he just doesn't get cause/effect. He sees it, he wants it, he takes it. Period. No matter what we impliment at school or at home, he just defies this to no end and it is scary because, yes, the kid is only 8 years old. BUT, if he doesn't stop this or come to reason that this is wrong in the first place, he is going to turn into a delinquent and possibly end up in jail.

Therapist has already pointed this out to us and she said she is on a prevention course for jail at this point. At first I thought, hooey, but now, I think she may have something.

Any one here have any experiences with RAD or know of someone who has?

The older Asperger is doing great in school, has quirks and social issues that he is working on, but he is doing good for the most part. He now is in a ":fun club" that has five members in it that are all Aspies and they can relate to each other about home and school. They meet once a week on Thursdays. He was just asked into the club a couple of weeks ago after having a few melt downs in class. The kid doesn't have an IEP OR special ed. They took it from him in KInder and told us that he has the "history" if there is a problem we can always revisit. Looks like we will be revisiting soon.

Thanks for anything you can give.

Robbin

[momla]

I know about RAD just from reading about it since Lydia came to us via international adoption. But, she doesn't have any attachment problems. I can't imagine how hard all of that must be on your family.

[CathyNY]

Sorry, Robbin, I don't know anything about this, but want to offer a hug anyway.

[coffee cat]

I work with a professor who specializes in this area. From her research profile:

"My interests lie in the area of social and emotional development; the
impact of early deprivation on development; early school adjustment
in mainstream and diverse (e.g., Aboriginal, immigrant, early
deprived, and other) populations."

If you are interested in contacting her let me know and I'll pass along a link. Perhaps she could recommend somebody closer to where you live.