4 Steps to Success When your heart is pounding as you face the days  with children “stuck at home” you know it is much more challenging with a child with RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder) ADHD, ASD, or ODD.  You may want a plan to make it through. I like to find the silver lining and […]

The Death Sentence Years ago in another life I was working as a police officer assigned to criminal investigations.  During my tour of duty, I was involved in investigating a Capital Murder case which would carry the death penalty as the punishment.  In the course of the investigation, I reported to the prosecutor’s office as […]

Written by Aimie Apigian, MD. Let’s play the “What If” game for a second… What if… there was an underlying biology problem in your child that is making your job as can awesome parent harder? What if…there were easy tests you could order to specifically identify what biological problem there was with a just as […]

Written by Nancy Thomas Trauma hurts. It ripples through lives creating a tidal wave of health problems well documented in the “ACE” studies. Horrendous things happening to little ones interferes with normal brain and personality development UNLESS there is someone the child trusts to be a safe haven during that time. Usually that is the […]

An old Bedouin metaphor says: Never let a camel get his nose in your tent. In the US we say: “Give them an inch and they will take a mile”. Truer words were never spoken when it comes to working with a child with RAD! Because they have massive trust issues, they choose to rule. […]

My friend Tim said, “This week with my daughter has been like living in a firestorm. She keeps creating sparks and embers for me to run and put out.” I can picture that! It is how we live when we have a child with RAD. As parents of these challenging children we are continually putting […]

Written by Nancy Thomas My stomach turned! Once again a gentle loving family had been misguided and hurt for years by an adoption worker telling them that RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder) was rare and not to worry. When they called and described deeply concerning symptoms she told them it was “a period of adjustment” and […]

The eyes are the windows to the soul. Yesterday I got a piercing hate look from a big, 15 year old boy that I am working with. It was a portal to cold, dark, evil. It was a long look as he walked by and drilled it into me. It is still echoing in my […]

One day, in a therapy session with a mom and a rather precocious 8 year old, we were discussing the 6 jobs of children. The child, practically a genius, had the jobs memorized before the end of the session. Mom was duly impressed that this child could actually comply with this task and said, “That […]

Three Steps to Get Them to Care. “I’m sorry” is so often a lie with children afflicted with RAD. They have little to no conscience so there is no feeling behind it. Often the words are delivered with a shoulder shrug and an eye roll! How do we get them to care? The first thing […]