Issues of adoption

Post Reply New Topic

How would an adoptive parent know if their child has autistic spectrum disorder or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder if there is no history of the birth mother? The social deficits are identical. Some children with fasd do not necessarily have the stereotypical facial characteristics of children born with this not to mention the chances of comorbidity of other disorders. Can anyone find this needle in a haystack? Would it have any real bearing on the rearing of such a child?

Research the signs of each and talk to a doctor if you have any concerns for starters.

Diagnosing any of these things is tricky, but you are the one with your child more than anyone, so you do all the reading and see what merges best with your instincts about the child you know and understand. Adopted or birth child, I still think parental instincts are number 1.

I do understand it is more difficult without family history to help you connect the dots, but it is what it is.

In addition, once you make a decision and start a protocol, if you see improvement you can feel pretty good about the road. If it makes things worse or doesn't really help (given that kids will still grow and mature without any therapy at all), then you keep searching.

I've told many parents that if they think ASD is a possibility, just try out the strategies we have on this website. If they help, does it really matter if you've been dealing with the right assumption?