Let’s Read “The Science of Parenting Adopted Children” Together!
Please join us for the Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York’s “Spring Book Read”! This year, we will be reading The Science of Parenting Adopted Children: A Brain-Based, Trauma-Informed Approach to Cultivating Your Child’s Social, Emotional and Moral Development
About the Book: The Science of Parenting Adopted Children:
A Brain-Based, Trauma-Informed Approach to Cultivating Your Child’s Social, Emotional and Moral Development
Combining cutting-edge neuroscience with attachment theory, this book shows how adoptive parents can help their traumatized child develop. It looks at the many different factors that can manifest in trauma, and how parents should respond to them.
Laying out the many factors that can affect a child’s mental health, it shows how parents can help to improve the development of a delayed child. Accessibly explaining cutting-edge neuroscience for parents, it gives the information needed to help with a traumatized child’s social, emotional and moral development. This book provides great insight into the brain of the child with early trauma. However, unlike many other books on this topic, this one also provides great practical suggestions in parenting. Arletta James has taken a very difficult topic and made it understandable and approachable.
About the Author, Arleta James
Arleta James, LPCC is Founder and Director of Adoption & Attachment Therapy Partners LLC. She has been an adoption professional for 20 years. She spent 15 years providing adoption-attachment-trauma informed therapies at the Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio and several years as a caseworker for the Pennsylvania Statewide Adoption Network placing foster children with adoptive families. She then served as the statewide Matching Specialist. Arleta is a member of the International Society for Neurofeedback and Research, Ohio Counseling Association and the North American Council on Adoptable Children.
How the Spring Book Read Works
This “book club” discussion will be hosted within the Coalition’s closed group, the New York Adoptive, Foster and Kinship Parenting Support Group, on Facebook.
Once again, Susan Rausch, Family Support Supervisor and Kitty Ravert, Family Support Specialist, at the Coalition’s AGAPE Central New York office along with other members of the Coalition’ teams, will lead the “book club” as we read, explore and discuss Arleta’ James’’s book. Each week participants will be assigned pages to read. On Thursdays, Susan and Kitty will comment on the reading and propose one or two discussion questions. Participants may comment, share ideas and ask questions about the readings. Questions will be answered by facilitators or other AFFCNY staff participating in the reading.
A lively discussion will ensue!
Join the Coalition’s Book Club
To join the online “book club”:
1) Join the public event on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/209119523701078/. Indicate that you are “going” to the event so it will prompt you each week to participate! You can use the sharing and invite tools to invite friends, family and others to the Coalition’s Spring Book Read.
2) Then, join the Coalition’s Private Support Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/affcny/. Please make sure you answer the three questions with your parenting status and what county you live in. For the third question, please indicate you are there form the book read, so we can approve your participation quickly. Each Thursday, there will be a new discussion post (or more) about the book that you engage with.
3) If you need to order the book; please consider using this link to help support the Coalition: https://amzn.to/39nxNuP (just copy and paste into a new browser window)
Beginning, on MAY 14th, 2020,the facilitators will comment on the reading and propose discussion questions for the participants. In response, participants may also comment on the reading and also share their thoughts regarding the discussion questions. Then the following week, we do it again!
Don’t worry if you miss a week or join late, feel free to jump in and catch up. We hope you can join in!
About Your Book Read Facilitators
Susan Rausch is an adoptive parent of 7 young adults and a grandparent of 7 grandchildren. Susan has been working in Human Services for over 35 years in Tompkins County, New York. She currently serves as the Family Support Supervisor for the Coalition’s AGAPE Central New York offices. She also owns and operates, Camp Earth Connection – a Natural Campground, Retreat Center and Specialized Youth Programs and Camps. Susan holds a BS from Cornell University and a MS from SUNY Cortland. She is grateful to be able to share her experience and knowledge and serve Adoptive and Guardianship families throughout the central New York region.
Kitty Ravert started as a Family Support Specialist with the Coalition in 2019 when she began participating in AGAPE trainings and support groups as an adoptive parent. She has been certified as a Foster Parent in Chemung County since May 2012. As an adult adoptee though traditional domestic closed adoption, Kitty also provides the adoptee point of view. Her family is quite unique; blending her first born son whom she relinquished to adoption and reunited with in 2017 and her five children, one of whom is also adopted.
Let’s get reading!