A new therapist, I hope

We met with an attachment therapist on Friday, and we may be on the right road! I am still guarded because I now have to fight insurance to get the therapy covered. This therapist, and any other attachment therapist, is not a part of our insurance's group. Actually, when I was talking to the insurance rep, who has been helpful for the most part, he referred to attachment therapy as “quote unquot attachment therapy.” From this, I have the idea (and it is just my idea) that he/they/whatever does not really recognize the type of therapy that we need as a specific treatment.

Well, it is.

Our therapist, Marilyn, asked some questions that our last (and regular family therapist) therapist didn't get to in 4 meetings. Trying to find out more about Julia's past, she asked about others who came home from the same orphanage. She when through the RAD check list, and we immediately talked about daily cuddling and bottle feeding if Julia wanted it. I think we are on the same page. She asked if anyone had mentioned attachment disorder, and my question to her is who is suppose to notice it. I mean, besides the parents. We have had wonderful experiences with speech and OT therapies, a good Wiseman assessment, decent medical care, assessments when Julia first came home by the IU international adoption clinic, hearing tests, and more, BUT no one has mentioned have an assessment or talking to a specialist about attachment. This convinced me for a long time that Julia would not have this challenge. This drives me crazy. I am pretty much a research geek but even I stopped reading about attachment for a good long while. I only started reading again because I read that the ABA training used for autism could be harmful for a child who was not sufficiently attached . I am not saying that some/any/all of Julia's challenges are due to an attachment but some may be and we need to work on them before we begin any ABA training.

Julia had a good work week this week, but a spotty behavior week. She is hitting, kicking and pulling hair. I suggested (at the parent-teacher meeting) more transition activities to try to short cut these behaviors which Christy said they will try.

I was in the classroom yesterday, and even when she appears not to be listening, Julia have an eye and ear on what is going on. She had problems listening to the story read as a start of writers' workshop. She didn't want to sit on the carpet and started by laying down and squirming. Ginny, the SEA, tried to get her to sit up, babying her some, but in the end just demanding that she sit. Julia would have none of it. Ginny kept her in the room until Christy that part of the story she was going to read. By this time, Julia was disturbing the class, Ginny took her out of the class to sit on the stairs. When this didn't work to calm Julia down, they went to the OT space (and I am not sure where this is) and did some physical work – trampoline, carrying boxes. After this, Julia came in and started the work that was the workshop. Julia took the piece of paper divided into three columns. The assignment is to draw and write about the beginning and middle of the story as it was read, and then, predict the end. Julia drew “Blabber Mouse” in the first column and wrote, “The mouse talked a lot” using creative spelling (which seems to mean that almost anything the child puts down is allowed. Julia wrote mouse as “mos” and talked as “takd”). In the second column, Julia drew the teacher from the story and wrote, “The teacher said quiet.” In the third column Julia drew another picture of Blabber Mouse with his hands in front of his mouth, and wrote, “Mouse is now quiet.” Not a bad recap of the story and prediction for the end, especially considering how little it appeared that Julia was listening and paying attention to what directions were given.