Potty Issues: Get the scoop on the poop!

Toilet Training Guides and Quick Facts About Potty Training from the Center for Adoption Medicine at University of Washington Medical Center

Early Intervention (National Program )

The National Early Intervention Program is a federal entitlement for all children under the age of three under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. In some states services are free, in others there are co-payments for services. Read more about Early Intervention

• State by State Listing of Early Intervention Programs
• Early Intervention Resources
• Florida's Early Intervention System
• Florida and State Family Resource Information

Great Advice from Kaz Adoption Families

Advice from the Bilbros Traveled 2007 to Almaty.

Advice from Stacey: 2007 to Semey. Sorry, you'll have to scroll down to Sept 18th posting entitled "Helpful Hints"

Almaty Advice from the Woods and bonus - Advice Addendum

Gena and James Lloyd recommend:

• Take a cheap umbrella stroller as they are expensive there. Most everyone will tell you that. We took a pack too to carry him but it turned out that we got large 8mth old who weighed much too much to carry. The stroller can be used for entertainment, feeding chair and is invaluable in the airport. If you get there and dont need it what's the worst, you leave it there.
• Take mix and match clothes and just wear them over and over again, they do. That will leave more room for other stuff and the washers will wear out your clothes there in due time.
• Do take little kleenex packs as TP is rare in public or you may pay "as you go" seriously you get like 4 tissues for 10cents. I got sick, food poisoning, and had to pay for TP each time I entered the bathroom. I even had the translator tell the lady and she didn't care.
• You do need to take over the counter meds like Pepto, Asprin etc and for the baby oral gel teething swabs came in real handy.

PlaceMaker: Packing lists! Jennifer M

After getting home: School issues

Download various articles:

• Adoptive Families Magazine has lots of links to articles and handouts, with sample letters and how to handle trickly school assignments
• Education and Internationally Adopted Children: Working Collaboratively With Schools
• International Adoption: Information for Parents and Educators (2004) National Association of School Psychologists
• The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute's Policy & Practice Papers
• article from Teaching Tolerance magazine article "Out of the Shadows"

Transitioning from Home to a School Setting:

• Planning Transitions to Preschool

Helping family and friends understand about adoption:

• Institute for Adoption Information offers a brochure Why It Is Important To Understand Adoption

Helping teacher understand about adoption and curriculum:

• An Educator's Guide toAdoption Brochure -its around $8
• Teaching Tolerance Magazine
• "A" Is for Adoption: a teachers’ pocket guide to adoption issues in the classroom at Cradle.org
  order the book Adoption and the Schools from Families Adopting In Response
  order DVD/Video "I Wonder…” Teenagers Talk About Being Adopted from Families Adopting In Response
• Adoptive Families Magazine has lots of links to articles and handouts, with sample letters and how to handle trickly school assignments

Parenting Resources: Prevention

The Ounce of Prevention Fund of Florida is a private, nonprofit corporation whose mission is to identify, fund, support and evaluate innovative prevention and early intervention programs that improve the health, education and life outcomes of Florida's at-risk children and families.

Founded in 1980, The MENTOR Network is a national network of local human services providers offering an array of quality, community-based services to adults and children with developmental disabilities or acquired brain injury; to children and adolescents with emotional, behavioral and medically complex challenges; and to elders in need of home care. The Mentor Program's Early Intervention Program Service Provider finder by US state.

Also please view postings on:

• International Adoption Child Health
• Adoption high-risk issues.

Oye! traveling home & adjusting

Flying with Kids's website

Transitional issues for when you get home:

The International Adoption medical program of the University of Minnesota's Transition Issues: Sleep for International Adoption Children This addresses what to do during the first weeks home when the exhaustion of jet lag may be the cause of sleep interruptions for both parent and child.

International Adoption Child Health, General

Here are links to State by state listing to find an International Adoption Doctor:

• by the American Academy of Pediatrics
• by the University of Minnesota
• by Adopt Vietnam
• The majority of your communications with the IA doctor will be from out of country, so don't get hung up on having a local doctor unless you want.

Links to Links on Adoption Health Issues

• ComeUnity's Adoption Health site
• Orphan Doctor website

Lots of articles to read:

• Start here: Tons of articles and information to download from the University of Minnesota
• Links to articles on Adoption Medicine from Adoptive Families Magazine
• Four articles by Deborah Borchers, M.D., walk parents through evaluating a referral, preparing for the adoption trip, and completing a post-adoption medical assessment.
• Several articles about all sorts of medical topics at Adoptiondoctors.com Medical Archives

General Research:

• The Association for Research in International Adoption (ARIA) website is a central location that seeks to disseminate the findings of research to the international adoption community. The site also contains links for adoptive parents to learn more about the issues that may impact internationally adopted children.
• An overview of the impact of institutionalization on internationally adopted children "Raising the Post-Institutionalized Child" on the Neuropsychological and Family Therapy AssociatesProviding Comprehensive Assessment and Innovative Treatment. This website also has articles on Institutional Autism and Neuropsychological Evaluation and Rehabilitation of the Post Institutionalized Child

International Adoption Doctor's links to health information:

• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Links to General Health of Children:

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' 2007 General Health Information Clearinghouse
• 2008 Information Centers and Clearinghouses Home This document is compiled annually by the National Health Information Center, which is a service of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), Office of Public Health and Science, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Updates to this document are available on the Internet at http://www.health.gov/NHIC/Pubs/. To order printed copies of this publication, contact the ODPHP Communication Support Center, P.O. Box 37366, Washington, DC 20013-7366; fax (301) 468-3028.

Visit the post on Growthcarts and Developmental Milestones

Visit the post on High-Risk health issues that address RAD, FAS, SPD, etc