Adopt Special Needs: 11 Ways To Go About This.
By merely deciding to adopt special needs children or child, you have demonstrated a great love for humanity in general and that child/ children in particular. The truth is that a child with special needs is also a child like other children, born of a woman. The only difference is that he / her special needs.
Therefore, to adopt special needs children or child means adopting a child or children that has special needs, which might make it difficult for any adoptive parent want to adopt him/her.
The term “special needs” may not necessarily mean a health issue. There are other reasons why a child can be classified as special needs baby, that includes –
- Age,
- racial or ethnic background.
- Emotional, physician or medical disability.
- Children in siblings group.
- Risk of emotional, mental, or physical disability traced from the child’s family background.
- It also includes any conditions both physically, mentally or emotionally that make adoption almost impossible.
Each states have a way of classifying what special needs adoption means to them. However, any adoptive family seeking to adopt special needs children will surely decide which need they think they can manage.
Today, and In this post, I want to share with you some of the ways you can go about adopting a special needs kids.
Let’s dive in
Adopt Special Needs: 11 Ways To Go About This.
1) Do Research:-
Congratulations dear, You are highly honored to decide to take this step. But you have to be fully informed about what it takes to adopt special needs children. “Whatever you don’t know is bigger than you.”
That’s one reason you should step up your knowledge about this kind of adoption. After researching about what it takes to adopt a child with special needs, then ask open-ended and probing questions about the child you want to adopt and the family.
Ask questions like the medical health condition of the child’s birth parents, ask about both the visible and invisible disability of both the child and the birth family. This is because most of the disabilities can’t be seen naturally with eyes, for example, hearing disability/deficit, mental health as well as other physical condition are not noticed easily.
2) Find Out All About The Child You Want To Adopt.
You have so much to learn about the special need child you want to adopt. Don’t just depend on what they told you about the child’s health, there may be more that what you heard.
So press forward and ask the child’s therapist or pediatrician, or other specialist: and keep asking until you get a clear answer. If you accept just what they told you about the child’s issues, you may be surprised to get what you didn’t bargain for.
Asking questions can lead you to not just understanding the level of the child’s predicament as well as the good solution for it.
3) Evaluate Your Readiness And Your Support System:-
Now that you’ve asked questions and probably you got answers you didn’t expect about the child’s health, the question now is, are you ready to adopt special needs children or not.
Adopting a child with special needs will stretch your impatient, faith, courage and your emotions, but when you know that you are ready for whatever will happen, then you will know how to call yourself back when it happens.
Don’t underestimate what’s coming your way, so start fortifying yourself, build supports for yourself. There is need for strong supports now. You’ll be happier if the support will come from your family and friends you are ahead of the game.
Now don’t expect to have the supports you want at all times, they will surely fluctuate; but as you study the child’s needs, you will see your support growing. Don’t hesitate to seek for help. Like I said earlier, you must also develop your patience because it will be overstretched as you go. Only patience can change the outcome of your decision to adopt special needs children.
4) Rely On All You Have Learnt So Far:-
As you keep going and learning, keep all you learn handy and work with it and learn some more. Search for non profit and other organizations that support your baby’s diagnosis.
There are so many organizations that loves to identify with parents with special needs children MHA (Mental Health America) is one of such, including National Alliance on Mental Illness (MHA). Find them, and you will be amazed at what support you’ll get. Many can even give you grants to help you take care of your child, other can give you quality information too.
Do not estimate any help you gain from these organizations no matter how small it is; you may find yourself becoming the best parent to your child from all that you have learnt so far.
5)Take Note Of Everything; It’s Important:-
This is very important, because you may not have the opportunities again to get her such wonderful information. What I mean is that you need to find a jotter to write down all you are getting so far.
One day, all you’ll need to do is just to pull out the just an refresh your memory with all the information you’ve gotten so far. you will thank God that you have some to fall back on. Your head alone won’t do the magic, you need a jotter.
6) Don’t Forget To Take Care Of Yourself
The most important thing you’ll need to do as you adopt special needs children is not to forget yourself. It’s important to know that so many things will take attention away from you; but don’t fall victim to distractions.
Take proper care of yourself too, eat what you want, rest, and do much more for yourself and your health. Have in mind that you have to be alive to take care of your adopted special needs child.
It’s not that easy to parent a child with special needs, but your self care, patience, curiosity, gaining supports and persistence is what will give you the success you need.
7) Find The Grants And Supports You Need:-
There are many financial supports available for all that adopted special needs children. Ask your adoption agency about the possible grants available due to your child’s disability. You could be eligible for states and federal supports.
The federal and state supports are also called adoption subsidy, and it is paid monthly to the adoptive parent and also meant to be used for the child’s medical needs as well as other important expenses regarding the child.
Before you will lay your hands on this adoption subsidy, your child must fall under these three categories of special needs baby.
The adopted child will and must never be returned to his or her birth family.There are many conditions or combine factored that made the child’s adoption almost impossible, which must include age, Medical condition etc.The state has tried everything they could not to provide assistance for the child’s adoption and failed.
Only the child’s state or tribe can determine whether the child meets the criteria or not, and if your child meet the criteria to classified as a special needs child, then there will be another check to know if he/ she qualifies to get the adoption assistance.
To be eligible for the assistance, the child –
- Must have been removed from their parents home after judges ruling. Every decision taken by the Judge must be to the child’s interest. If taken the child back home won’t help the child, the child will be placed for adoption.
- The child must also meet the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits to be eligible for the assistance The child would have completed 60 months in the foster care home. Etc.
What All The Benefits For Adopting Special Needs Child Look Like:-
Whatever benefit you will receive or have received when you adopt special needs children depends on the State policies. The benefits are
You will get monthly payment.Reimbursement for almost all your expenses ( which may be up to $2000 from Federal) or whatever your State approved as benefits.Automatic medicald coverage for the child ( every eligible child has gets this)Assistance for all the post placement services the special needs child gets, as well as “referrals to community services and In home supports.
As the adoptive parent, you have the right to ask for more assistance when you need more for the up keep of the special needs child you adopted.
In Conclusion:-
I congratulate you once again for choosing to adopt special needs children. I also hope that the information contained in this post will guide you from you step one till you finalize your adoption.
Feel free to ask me any bothering questions.
See you at the top. I am still your
