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Hi, I am Arthur Becker-Weidman, Ph.D. I, along with Nancy Geoghegan, an adoptive parent and, in my opinion, an expert in a wide variety of parenting, school, and other issues regarding adopted and foster children, will be moderating this forum. I am very pleased to be sharing this task with Nancy. Ive found her warmth, compassion, and breadth of knowledge to be a real asset to families.
I have been a Moderator for a few years now. I have a Master of Social Work degree. I also have a Ph.D., from the University of MarylandҒs Institute for Child Study. I have been helping adoptive and foster families for over twenty-five years now. I am the Director of The Center For Family Development, [url]www.Center4FamilyDevelop.com,[/url] which specialize in evaluating and treating adopted and foster families and children with attachment disorders. On a personal note, I was adopted as a child, a kinshipӔ adoption, and am the parent of three children, one of whom was adopted.
I would like to see an open and free ranging discussion on this Forum. I am happy to answer questions and would like to see others contribute their experience and expertise. I hope that, even when the topic generates strong feelings, that everyone will remain respectful and avoid personal comments against others. I will lend my expertise as an expert on attachment, attachment disorders, mental health issues, and about adoptive and foster families. As a licensed mental health professional in several states I will provide information about treatment, effective strategies, and what the professional literature may bring to bear on questions of interest to participants of this Forum.
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I have 2 bio. adult children as well as a 23 y.o. adopted son, a 19 month old adopted daughter and a 2 1/2 month old adopted daughter.
The girls' bmom, as well as their 2 sisters (7 y.o. & 4 y.o.), have been dx as bipolar .
I understand that BP is genetic and my girls are at risk. I am interested in adopting the 7 y.o. sister.
She is currently in foster care and I have heard some horror stories about her.
Although I am leary of exploring this uncharted territory (bipolar disorder) after all I have read, I would like some professional input.
How difficult would it be if I were to adopt the 7 y.o. and then later (in years to come) learn that the 19 month old AND the 2 1/2 month old were dx as BP too !?
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The answer really is one of those, "it depends." Bipolar Disorder is not a discrete phenomenon, it exists on a continiuum. For some it is a mild disorder, others require medication and respond really well to it so that when on meds you'd never know, and others have increasing levels of difficulty. So, without knowing the extent of the disorder in the child, it is not really possible to answer your question.
What I can say is that, generally, children do respond well to medication treatment. If you've not read the book, The Bipolar Child, you might want to take a look at it. It is five years old, so some of the medication adivice in it is old...but the basic text about the disorder and course is still on target.
One other point. While Bipolar Disorder is genetic, having two parents with the disorder only raises the odds from about 2% to about 8 or 10% chance of having the disorder.
The more salient issue is that at that age you are much more likely to have a child with Reactive Attachment Disorder.
regards