By Fall 2011, we received news that there may be some movement in Ind*a.
Again, no confirmation, just hearsay. So we waited again, but certainly didn't hold our breath as we had
heard that many kinks in the system were yet to be worked out.
I constantly bugged our country coordinator to get more updates. Were things in Ind*a really moving? Did they hear anything? Did any of their counterpart agencies hear anything? Did the orphanage in Ind*a pass along any information to them? Still no clear answer. But during that time of frustration and stress, my agency and I also discussed a special need situation. We were not approved for special needs, we had not really looked much into that option. My social worker had given us a special needs checklist in the beginning of our home study visits. In all honesty, the entire adoption process including the first home study visit was all so overwhelming to us. Naturally, everything listed on the special needs checklist seemed so daunting to us. So we did not check any of the boxes and were not approved for special needs. The problem was, we were not educated on all of those because it is a really long list, and it is nearly impossible trying to read up on it all. This discussion with the agency also indicated to me that there must be some movement going on in Ind*a with respect to referrals.
Each child's special needs is different, even though it may be "checked" off on the same box. Some special needs are easy to assess, others are not. Each special need waiting child has a story of their own, and with it, and medical history unique to them. It cannot be assessed "in general" because one needs to have the specific child's specific medical file for it to be evaluated and assessed. There are many stories of when the medical file says that the child is in a worse medical condition than what the parents find after the child has been home for a few months, and vice-versa too.
This is where I think the attitude of being prepared for the unexpected, while hoping for the best and expecting the worst, helped. Anyway, at that point, we were just starting to think about special needs. The seed was sown, but we were not yet ready. We had not talked to other adoptive parents about this yet. It was just not the time. But what it did was, it got us thinking. We were not prepared for it then, because it really took some more preparation and understanding. It all happened in due time exactly when it was supposed to.
My encounters and experiences during our little sister J's special needs assessment is truly a testimony worth shouting from mountain tops, and there will be many posts on that on each of those. God really works in mysterious ways.
I constantly bugged our country coordinator to get more updates. Were things in Ind*a really moving? Did they hear anything? Did any of their counterpart agencies hear anything? Did the orphanage in Ind*a pass along any information to them? Still no clear answer. But during that time of frustration and stress, my agency and I also discussed a special need situation. We were not approved for special needs, we had not really looked much into that option. My social worker had given us a special needs checklist in the beginning of our home study visits. In all honesty, the entire adoption process including the first home study visit was all so overwhelming to us. Naturally, everything listed on the special needs checklist seemed so daunting to us. So we did not check any of the boxes and were not approved for special needs. The problem was, we were not educated on all of those because it is a really long list, and it is nearly impossible trying to read up on it all. This discussion with the agency also indicated to me that there must be some movement going on in Ind*a with respect to referrals.
Each child's special needs is different, even though it may be "checked" off on the same box. Some special needs are easy to assess, others are not. Each special need waiting child has a story of their own, and with it, and medical history unique to them. It cannot be assessed "in general" because one needs to have the specific child's specific medical file for it to be evaluated and assessed. There are many stories of when the medical file says that the child is in a worse medical condition than what the parents find after the child has been home for a few months, and vice-versa too.
This is where I think the attitude of being prepared for the unexpected, while hoping for the best and expecting the worst, helped. Anyway, at that point, we were just starting to think about special needs. The seed was sown, but we were not yet ready. We had not talked to other adoptive parents about this yet. It was just not the time. But what it did was, it got us thinking. We were not prepared for it then, because it really took some more preparation and understanding. It all happened in due time exactly when it was supposed to.
My encounters and experiences during our little sister J's special needs assessment is truly a testimony worth shouting from mountain tops, and there will be many posts on that on each of those. God really works in mysterious ways.
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