Customer Reviews

A Child's Journey Through Placement

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book MUST be required reading for ALL adoptive families for insuring they have true insight on parenting their child responsivly. Being a mother desperately looking for the "why" my adopted child behaves as he does and "why" four years of traditional treatment hasn't mattered, I now have these answers and far greater insight as to what to do next. Dr. Fahlberg has provided the comprehensive guide for all who care about advocating children with all kinds of behavior and disorder issues. Dr. Fahlberg's "A Child's Journey Through Placement" is the Dr. Spock book for all adoptive parenting - outstanding material, information and very well written.

This book is a must have for foster parents, adoptive parents, & professionals. Yes, some of it gets very tedious & dry, & the editing is horrendous; but...there is a lot of value here. Not only does the author give explanations, activities, & study based back-up, but she also walks you through her chapters with several case studies. This helps the reader to better apply the knowledge they are absorbing.

One reviewer mentioned their disgust for the author's mention of holding therapy. I have to agree with that reviewer, but keep in mind that this book was written in 1996...BEFORE holding therapy had gotten much attention & caused a public outcry.

This book is both interesting & informative, & I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in special needs children..

Although this book is recommended by many as a standard work in the field, I personally found it unreliable and uneven.

Fahlberg focuses on attachment to the exclusion of all other special needs and developmental tasks, and recommends techniques (such as "holding therapy") which many experts on attachment have criticized as harmful and even abusive. I found her account of separation issues to be much less sensitive and thoughtful than that of Claudia Jewett ("Helping Children Cope with Separation and Loss"), for example.

There is almost no reference to organic mental or physical disabilities, except for outdated references to "schizophrenic children" dating from the 1960s.

There is useful advice in it, but it doesn't extend far beyond common sense and is undermined by inaccuracies and omissions.

If you work with foster children, adoptive children, or children still in care and moving through the system, this is the book to read. It address key tools to use with children in foster care, and helps give the worker some insight into how the child might be feeling, and may have felt being in the system. Read it.

I found this book very helpful in preparing for my daughter's arrival in our family, at age four. It is true that there are quite a few typos; just ignore them, and ignore the 'holding therapy' recommendation. It still is packed with insights into how trauma and abuse effects children and impacts their ability to form relationships. When adopting a child past age two, you really need all the information you can get your hands on. This should be part of your reading, in my opinion.

Christine Mitchell, author and illustrator of:
Family Day: Celebrating Ethan's Adoption Anniversary and
Welcome Home, Forever Child: A Celebration of Children Adopted as Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Beyond

An easy read with a lot of informaiton. Written at about a collge 200 level so it does not lose you with informaiton you be able to use but it does make you stop and think. Good for anyone that is serious about helping their adoptive child.

I am interested in fostering and have recently applied to do this.

I feel that this book is an essential reading for those who are interested in adoption or fostering. It gives a lot of illustrations of children in care and how they need to have complete understanding of their needs to enable them to function well in life and to become attached to those they are living with as a family.

It is easy reading as well and would make a good text book for courses or for discussion groups interested or working with children also.

A must read in the field, a really excellent book. A must read for parents who want to help children build healthy attachments, really helped with my situation.

$30 for a USED version of this book?! I think not! This book only costs $20.00 at the campus book store. People sell USED books to try to get some of their money back, but you can't make a profit on used books!