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SAMPLE

Orientation
Thinking Points for
Families

Your agency will help you to understand the meaning of
"special needs" and commitment needed to parent special needs children.

Questions for you to think about:

Why am I seeking "special needs" adoption?

What will it be like to parent an older child?

Think about your strengths and the strengths of your
family unit. Discuss them with your caseworker. Talk about how they will meet
the needs of the child.

Suggestion:

You may want to make a list of strengths.

All
families need support of friends and family. Think about and identify the
people within your support network.

Questions for you to think about:

Who are the people within my life who would be willing to learn about
my adopted child and his/her special needs and be a support for me?

Suggestion:

Make a list of those people and how they would support you.
(babysitting or respite, transportation, a listening non-judgmental ear)
Also list their strengths.

Your agency will help you
to identify your expectations of your adopted child. Once identified, they
will help temper expectations that may be unreasonable or unattainable.

Questions for family to think about:

What do I expect of my adopted child?

How important has it been that we experience infancy or early
childhood with the child in order to fulfill our parenting needs?

What are my goals as a parent?

What do we need as parents?

Most of the children
require support services such as individual or group therapy, special
classroom instruction / support, medical follow-up and medications to name a
few. Your agency will discuss the supports that will and will not be available
to you after finalization.

Questions for the family:

How will I feel if my child needs special educational
instruction/support services?

What will my commitment be as an advocate for my special needs child?

After the previous discussion, your agency will
provide you with resources and how to access them.

The agency will
fully disclose to you information they have about the child. This should
include current and past information regarding educational needs, therapy and
medications, medical history etc.

All family members should be involved
in the decision making process.

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