I remember one morning about two days after coming home I allowed him to run free on the first floor of our house. He ran in a circle through the kitchen, living room, family room, and hallway until he passed out on the carpet. The entire time he did not paused to listen to my voice or to look at me. I put the gates back up on the family room doorways after that. He just could not handle large spaces yet.

We ended up hibernating for a good 6 months (as much as we could). Here are some tips from Adoption Doctors.

1. Immediately during the post-adoption period, do not over stimulate the child. Avoid trips to toy-r-us, Disneyland, and large gatherings. When exposed to this type of environment children tend to have meltdown, hyperactive and out of control
2. Child should be placed in a well-structured routine. Do not allow the child to become the center of attention
3. Families should stay home with child for as long as possible.
4. Expose the child only to close family members during the post-adoption period. (our family was not near us and since AJ had a difficult time attaching to us this was a good thing)
5. One parent should be home with the child for the first couple of months.
6. Exposure to both parents is optimal as long as it is as financially feasible.
7. Avoid daycare immediately after arrival
8. Try to communicate during the first 2-3 months in the child native language.
9. Do not try to force the child to learn English right away, it will come in it own time.
10. Child should stay home with a primary parent as opposed to a nanny or babysitter.
11. If available, have the child socialize with a child from a similar institutional setting and culture.
12. Older children should be enrolled in school as soon as possible. (I disagree with this. Older children should be given time to acclimate to the culture and family first)
13. Schools usually place these children in “English as second language program” Insist that the child be placed in mainstream classes. Language will develop rather quickly if the child is exposed to the English language.
14. Post-Institutionalized children tend to become fixated on junk food, such as hot dogs, sweets, chips and soda immediately. Let them eat but not just what they want or like. Set limits. Since they have never had junk food, it becomes an obsession.
15. Initially try to recreate the diet that the children had in the orphanage. Gradually transition them to your families diet slowly over time.
16. In regards to television, avoid shows that have aggressive tendencies. Disney type movies are usually calm, have good language are funny and have good moral values. Children tend to imitate things that they see. Having them watch power rangers is almost a guarantee to have a power ranger in your living room wrecking your furniture very soon. (for some time we only allowed TV without sound. The overstimulation was too much)
17. Children need to earn activities and privileges based on their daily performances. Good behaviors need to be rewarded and bad behavior needs to be gently punished by taking away privileges like favorite toys, games for short period of times. Never ever use corporal punishment.

Adopting a post-institutionalized child is a extremely difficult undertaking. If your expectations of international adoption that all that you need to do is to travel overseas to pick-up a child, put him into GAP clothing and expect him to function in our society without problems, then maybe International Adoption is not for you.

Consistency and complete dedication towards the best interest of the child are mandatory. The immediate gratification of the parents to form a family unit needs to be delayed temporarily. This will help to promote a good long-term prognosis for the post-institutionalized child.

Post from: Blisstree

Coming Home Strategies

Basically, the brain must organize all of the information it takes in, categorize and process the sensations and attempt to move and learn “normally”. If the brain can not do that then the output is dysfunctional.

Sensory integration includes not only the five senses but also balance and movement.

Sight
Sound (auditory- with no diagnosed hearing problems)
Touch (tactile- input from the skin receptors about touch, pressure, temperature, pain, and movement of the hairs on the skin.)
Vestibular (input from the inner ear about equilibrium, gravitational changes, movement experiences, and position in space)
Proprioceptive (input from the muscles and joints about body position, weight, pressure, stretch, movement, and changes in position in space)
Oral
Smell
Auditory Language
Social, Emotional, Play, and Self RegulationSensory Integration is typically detected and diagnosed in children because SI can be obvious during early childhood activities such as tactile play, tumbling, and gross and fine motor skills. If Sensory Integration is not detected learning, development, and behavior problems can surface later and become more serious.

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Post from: Blisstree

What Causes Sensory Integration?

A Sensory Diet is a carefully designed activity schedule that provides your child with sensory and nervous system input to help him/her stay focused, alert, and organized throughout the day. It is VERY important to recognize that EVERY child’s sensory diet will be different because there is no child who is the same and who needs the same sensory input and output. For example, one child may need to use more heavy work activities to utilize her proprioceptive sense and another may need more tactile input.

According to the Sensory Smarts website (a byproduct of the book, Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Integration Issues) “to construct an effective sensory diet, you need the sensory smarts to truly understand your child’s sensory difficulties and how they interfere with his life.” You will need an occupational therapist to evaluate your child and help you create the sensory diet that will best suit your child.

What is also important to take into account is your child’s threshold for stimulation. If your child is easily stimulated and is often overstimulated it will be very important (early on) to keep a log of what triggers the overstimulation.

Even three years into AJ’s diagnosis we are still learning what triggers his overstimulation but we believe we are getting a handle on it and are finally able to keep him at a more regulated state during the day.

Here is a sample Sensory Diet from Sensory Smarts. We do MANY of these things as well as use natural light as much as possible and try to avoid using lights in the house. We avoid noise (no TV, stores, and play areas) as much as possible because his auditory sense sends him into fight or flight very quickly. We have limited clutter in the house to get rid of visual stimulation.

The hardest part is finding his threshold everyday because everyday it seems to change based upon his sleep or the weather. But, we try to do the best we can, minimize as much as we can, and provide him with as many sensory tools as we can.

Post from: Blisstree

What is a Sensory Diet

Post from: Blisstree

Overstimulation and Adopted Children

By the time they told me that I had done my fair share of research on language acquisition, sensory integration, and attachment issues and I knew that even a firm “no” was not going to do the trick if AJ wanted to get out the door or into the pots and pans (not that that should be an issue). But the first time I accidentally left the silverware drawer partially open and he squeezed his little fingers in and pulled out a corn cob holder (and aimed it straight at his eye) I was sure glad I had toddler proofed the ENTIRE house.

Anyone raising a toddler needs these essentials:

Electrical and Appliance:

Electrical Outlet Caps

TV and VCR Guards (so PB&J does not make the local news)

Wire Guard for loose wires

Drawer and Cabinet Locks

Cabinet Locks

Door Knob Covers

Bathroom and Bedroom

Toilet Lid Lock (don’t laugh…many Hot Wheels have made it down out potty!)

Crib Gummy Rail (especially for those chewers)

Fire Escape Ladder

No Tip Furniture Brackets

Either a Guardian Angel Window Guard or a window stop (for upstairs windows)

Blind Winder

Gates for the stairs and any rooms that you do not want your toddler in. We lived in a “gated community” for a long time because any roaming caused AJ to be overstimulated. He had lived in such a small environment for so long that he needed his environment kept small and then gradually built up.

I could have used this product two years ago. The Little Tumblers Table Topper covers the entire top of a coffee table to protect your toddler from the sharp edges without scratching your table top. Unlike other table top protectors that glue or tape onto the table this one simply wraps around the entire table. You can also order a custom topper.

Post from: Blisstree

Toddler Proofing the Home, A Necessity