Is It an Adoption Thing?

 Webinar  - Wednesday, August 7, 2013

7:00 PM Central, Q&A 8:00 PM

Are you struggling to decide if your child's challenging behaviors are adoption related or just kid stuff? Because so many families face that difficult task, Adoption Learning Partners asked an expert to help! Join Dr. Gregory Keck as he helps parents understand the impact of adoption and trauma on child development. Common challenging behaviors, how to manage behaviors, and effective (and ineffective) parenting tools will be discussed. Register here.

What No One Ever Told Me About Special Needs Adoption: Loving Our Perfect Child

  

Adopting several children from China has been a joy-filled, faith-building, abundant adventure. We have four biological children and feel as though we are experienced parents. However, sometimes even experienced parents can find that they are not adequately prepared for some issues.

During November of 2006, we decided that we would pursue a special needs child on a waiting child list. Our agency diligently prepared us for parenting a child with special needs....

Here is a list of items that no social worker ever prepared us for:

1. No one ever told us that when we had our adopted "special needs" daughter evaluated by an occupational therapist, that she would be 6-months ahead of her typically developing two-armed peers in motor development

2. No one ever told me that at age 2, she would figure out how to climb to the top of a bunk bed with her one arm just to admire her brother's trophies on a high shelf.

3. No one ever told me that she would be only 19 pounds but have the desire, tenacity, and strength of a Super Bowl bound football team.

- Tamera Wong - Rainbow Kids

To read the rest of this article and the remainder of this inspiring list, click here.

Special Waiting Child Webinar - Recent Superkids Trip!

Join us for a fun and informational webinar to learn more about Gladney Center’s China Waiting Child program and our humanitarian aid work through Superkids Charity. This summer, the Superkids team spent two weeks in China meeting over 100 amazing children in several orphanages across three provinces! This webinar is the first presentation in a three part series and we will hear from team members about their time spent in Shanghai. Please share this invitation with anyone interested in learning more about Gladney’s China Waiting Child Adoption Program and the exciting work that Superkids is doing to improve the quality of life for children in China and across the globe!

The webinar will be held on Thursday, August 8th at 7pm EST. Be sure to register today!

Gladney Cup

The Gladney Cup Golf Tournament is a world-class, PGA style charitable golf related event benefiting The Gladney Center for Adoption. It is held every-other year on one of the most beautiful, prestigious golf courses in the nation. This year's event will take place on Monday, September 23, 2013, on the famed Merion Golf Club East Course in Ardmore, PA.

Click here for more information.

Monkey: Journey to the West

Last night, several Gladney Asia staff attended Chen Shi-Zheng’s Monkey: Journey to the West at New York City’s Lincoln Center. The performance is an adaptation of Journey to the West, one of the four great classics novels of Chinese literature. It was a very exciting and interesting performance which used mixed media, including music, animation, acrobatics and martial arts to tell the compelling story of the Monkey King’s quest for immortality. The music was a blend of Chinese traditional opera and electronic pop, and the use of color, elaborate stage props and acrobatic performances were very reminiscent of shows that can be seen in China. Although the traditional Chinese themes in the show were the highlights, there were moments of humor that seemed to be able to cross cultural boundaries and were enjoyed by all!

Thinking about Adoption? Have you considered a Waiting Child?

  

When my husband and I first started our adoption process, these children were referred to as Special Needs which can be a scary term.

But what if instead we called them "Waiting Children"? Doesn't sound as intimidating, right, and it is the truth as well! Furthermore, what if we thought of "Special Needs" kids as "special", amazing children in "need" of or waiting for a forever family?... 

When our caseworker mentioned reviewing a special needs list, we looked at each and said, "we don't think so", but God had other plans. He began to work in our hearts and brought people into our lives who had adopted children from China on the waiting child list and showed us that He had a completely different plan than we were thinking of for our adopted child. Read more.

Get Involved in your local GFA

The summer fun continues... check out the GFA sponsored events planned for July and August - pool parties, play groups, potlucks and more will be taking place around the country to bring families together to enjoy each other's company and the beautiful weather!

Click here for the GFA Network's Event Calendar to learn what is happening in your area!

 

If you would like to learn more about opportunities to volunteer your time with your local GFA board, please contact the GFA Director of volunteers: Wendy Lee at  wendy.lee@gladney.org. Volunteers can help in a variety of ways. The new GFA season will kick-off in the Fall with a calendar of events specific to each local region. It is a great way to meet other families and make a difference!  

Thoughts About Sharing and Connecting

For almost two years now, I have had the privilege to work with the Gladney Asia staff on communications by creating a monthly newsletter and maintaining the program's blogsites. It has been such a pleasure getting to know the staff and experiencing first hand, their passion for adoption! Each month, we have enjoyed working collaboratively to publish adoption related articles and news, helpful resources and most importantly, adoption announcements and photos! 

Gladney and the Gladney Family Association strive to keep families involved and informed, providing a resource for parenting needs from before placement through young adulthood. There is so much wonderful information about adoption, parenting and heritage celebration that it is always exciting selecting the contents for our readers. It is our hope that our outreach and communications serve all Gladney Asia families, from those who are waiting, through those who adopted 15 or more years ago.

  

After publishing this summer newsletter, I will pass along this role to others so that I have more time as our oldest daughter prepares to apply for college! However, as I wrote in the article last month "The Benefits of Staying Connected", I will remain in contact with the Gladney Asia staff, complete some projects we have been planning and continue to assist Gongzhan with the custom China Heritage Tours.

- Lydia Macci

Gladney's Waiting Child website has been re-launched!

A Child to Love is now available to families who are interested in domestic or international adoption. Profile information of children waiting to be adopted can be accessed with varying levels of detail. The levels of access allow Gladney to present relevant child information, but also make sure the child's information is kept secure

Recent China Adoption News

CCCWA has matched families with LIDs through October 26, 2006.

CCCWA has reviewed dossiers with LIDs through October 31, 2012.

CCCWA has issued a referral for one Gladney family in June!

CCCWA has issued 2 Travel Approvals for Gladney families in June!

Welcome home to the two families who traveled last month to pick up their children!

  

Big sister Lia welcomes Rosalie to the Markland Family!  Follow their adoption blog here.

 

The Lin-Wang family welcomes Jay!

New York GFA named GFA of the year!

This year, Gladney staff chose the New York Metro Gladney Family Association (GFA) as the Legacy Blanket 2013 WINNER!

Sarah Krikstone, along with the New York GFA, worked with passion and commitment to host several events for families to share and connect with each other. This year, two great new activities were offered: Family Day at Greenwich Beach and a sleepover event at the Intrepid Museum. Due to their overwhelming success, these will become annual events! 

If you would like to learn more about opportunities to volunteer your time with your local GFA board, please contact the GFA Director of volunteers: Wendy Lee at

wendy.lee@gladney.org.

Connect with Gladney families through Facebook!

Did you know that families who have adopted through Gladney's Guang Ming (Asia Waiting Child) programs have a place to connect with each other on Facebook?  The group was created by a Gladney Mom who was looking for a place to find encouragement and support with other Gladney parents. The Guang Ming Facebook group has been a great way for families to ask each other questions, connect with families in their area and find out about Gladney events in a positive atmosphere!  

Search Gladney's GuangMing Families on Facebook to join the group.  

Please note, due to the nature of the group and the desire among parents for a certain level of privacy when sharing about their children, the group is available only for Gladney families.

"Wasn't it yesterday when they were small?"

           - Golde, Fiddler on the Roof

From Father
Daughter
dance to...

Junior Prom

As our June newsletter came together and various graduation pictures were gathered, I was reminded again and again that our children are becoming young adults. As parents, we watch in amazement as each child grows into his or her own personality, and develops the skills that will take them wherever they choose to go. Of course, this growth does not always unfold easily or gracefully, with many battles and sleepless nights along the way - naturally, the reason behind the sleep deprivation changes throughout our kids' stages as well!  Investing in the life of a child - any child, whether age 2 or 20; girl or boy - is a gift that we give to the world. We pay it forward to the next generation for all the gifts we were given as children that have developed into the strengths that we have today.

I often remember what one prospective adoptive father once told me, "I would like to give to my adopted child the gift of a family that they can take for granted".

May we all play a part in bringing that gift to the world's children!

- Wendy  Stanley  

JCICS Conference

 Frank Garrott answering questions after his speech

As always, Joint Council's 37th Annual Child Welfare Symposium was a great time of connecting with other adoption professionals and participating in educational sessions.  The speakers were thought-provoking and engaging and I came away from the sessions feeling like I had learned something important.

Martha Osborne

For me, the highlight of the conference was hearing Martha Osborne speak about the advocacy she does for children through her website, rainbowkids.com. Martha is very likely the most well-known advocate for children with special needs who are waiting to be adopted.  I was blown away by how long she has carried this passion and what she has done to help children find families! Martha is committed to working with agencies to advocate for these special children and I am excited for Gladney and Rainbow Kids to continue to partner together to become a bigger voice for children who desperately need forever families!                                                                              
- April Uduhiri

 

CCCWA's Database Updated

CCCWA just completed the update of their online database system.  This database houses the "shared list", along with information about matched families' cases.  At the Joint Council conference, we had a chance to get a sneak peek at the new system.  The upgraded database looks similar to the former system, but it appears more organized and seems to have more features which should be an improvement for the China program.

In order to facilitate this process, CCCWA shut down the old database on Friday, May 24th and the new system was up and running as of June 1st. We are excited to be using this new and improved system!

Recently in China Adoption News

• CCCWA has matched families with LIDs through October 26, 2006.
• CCCWA has reviewed dossiers with LIDs through October 31, 2012.
• CCCWA has issued referrals for one Gladney family in May!
• CCCWA has issued 2 Travel Approvals for Gladney families in May! 

Welcome home to the FIVE families who traveled last month to pick up their children!

Mia with Mama and Baba Johnson

Mimzie and Craig welcome Elaina into their family!

The newest member of the Locklear family, Olivia!

The Record family is all smiles with new daughter Elin!

 

Big sister Delany and big brother Ronan wecomed home Keegan who was adopted through Gladney's China standard program.

JCICS 37th Annual Child Welfare Symposium

As always, Joint Council’s (JCICS) 37th Annual Child Welfare Symposium was a great time of connecting with other adoption professionals and participating in educational sessions.  The speakers were thought-provoking and engaging and I came away from the sessions feeling like I had learned something important.

Martha Osborne

For me, the highlight of the conference was hearing Martha Osborne speak about the advocacy she does for children through her website, Rainbowkids (rainbowkids.com)  Martha is very likely, the most well-known advocate for children with special needs who are waiting to be adopted.  I was blown away by how long she has carried this passion and what she has done to help children find families!  Martha is committed to working with agencies to advocate for these special children and I am excited for Gladney and Rainbow Kids to continue to partner together to become a bigger voice for children who desperately need forever families!

April Uduhiri, Asia Program Case Worker

CCCWA Updating Online Database

I wanted to share with you all that CCCWA is planning to update their online database system.  This database houses the “shared list”, along with information about matched families’ cases.  

At the Joint Council conference Wednesday, I had a chance to get a sneak peek at the new system (shown in photo above).  The upgraded database looks similar to the former system, but it appears more organized and seems to have more features which should prove useful.  I think this will be a good improvement for the China program and hopefully the upgraded system will provide more technical stability during the monthly updates when a lot of matching happens!

In order to facilitate this process, CCCWA is shutting down the old database on Friday, May 24th and the new system should be up and running as of June 1st.  They have also informed us that they will not be accepting or processing dossiers during this time.  As far as I am aware, that is the only service that will be impacted during this transition.

It is my hope that taking a full week to close the old system and bring up the new database will facilitate a smooth transition.  We look forward to using the new and improved system!

April

Superkids is preparing to return to China next month!

The Superkids team will be visiting six orphanages in three provinces.  We will visit Shanghai Children's Home, four orphanages in the Jiangxi province and one orphanage in the Hunan province.  The team will evaluate children to assist them in finding adoptive families and work with children who may not be adopted so that we can improve their quality of life.  We will also train caregivers and rehabilitation staff to increase the skill of their therapeutic interactions with all children they care for.

Superkids Team Pat, Erin and Darla

As always, Gongzhan Wu, Gladney Vice President and Managing Director of the Asia Program, will lead the trip.  Superkids team members will include: Darla Wrage, MD, a pediatrician making her first therapeutic trip to China (read her bio on the Superkids blog); Erin Martin, waiting child advocate and Gladney Mom; and Pat Marcus, Physical Therapist. Superkids is thrilled with, and appreciative of, the dedication and commitment shown by its volunteers.

  

Please be sure to follow our progress on the Superkids blog and share in the preparation for the trip!

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month!

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) came about when Congress passed a resolution in 1978 to designate a week to celebrate Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. During APAHM, communities celebrate the achievements and contributions of Asian and Pacific Americans with community festivals, government-sponsored activities and educational activities for students. Google Asian Pacific American Heritage Month or APAHM to learn more!