Adoption Definitions

Definitions of Common Special Needs Terminology

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Abandonment - Desertion of a child by a parent or adult primary caregiver with no provisions for continued childcare nor with any apparent intention to return to resume caregiving.

Abuse - Many of the children waiting for adoptive families are victims of sexual, physical, and/or emotional abuse. Sometimes past abuse is not immediately known and may be revealed later. Abuse can leave children with emotional and behavior problems that need to be worked through with the help of knowledgeable professionals. The degree of abuse and the impact it has on the child vary greatly.

Abuse and Neglect - Physical, sexual and/or emotional maltreatment.  Child abuse and neglect is defined as the act or failure to act resulting in imminent risk of serious harm, death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation of a child by a parent or caretaker who is responsible for the child's welfare.  Abuse and neglect are defined in both Federal and State legislation.  The Federal CAPTA legislation provides a foundation for States by identifying a minimum set of acts or behaviors that characterize maltreatment.  This legislation also defines which acts are considered physical abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse maltreatment.

Adjustment Disorder - The development of emotional or behavioral symptoms such as depression, anxiety, sleeping problems, inappropriate conduct, etc. - in response to an identifiable stress event that are more intense than one would expect from such a stressor.

Alcohol-Related Birth Defects - Physical or cognitive deficits in a child which result from maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy, including but is not limited to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FASD) and Fetal Alcohol Effects (FASD).

Attachment Disorder - The inability of a child to form significant emotional connections with other people. Children who have experienced abuse and neglect, even when very young, will sometimes find it difficult to form significant ties. While they may be very charming, their relationship to others may be superficial. Lying, being out of control, lack of conscience development, and the inability to maintain direct eye contact are among the signs of attachment disorder.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) - A child with ADD is not hyperactive but may have many of the following difficulties: Concentration problems, difficulty following directions, difficulty completing tasks, easily distracted, loses things, and overly messy or overly neat.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - A disorder that involves problems with attention span, impulse control, and activity level. Typical behaviors include: fidgeting, difficulty remaining seated, distractibility, difficulty waiting for turns, difficulty staying on task, difficulty playing quietly, excessive talking, inattention, and engaging in physically dangerous activities without considering consequences.

See our Factsheet on ADHD and Adoption

Bipolar Disorder - A mental illness characterized by cycles of mania and depression. During manic periods, individuals may seem very happy and be hyperactive. In severe episodes, psychotic symptoms may also be present.

Boarder Babies - Infants abandoned in hospitals because of the parents' inability to care for them.  A high percentage of these babies are born HIV-positive or drug-addicted.

Bonding - The process of developing lasting emotional ties with one's immediate caregivers; seen as the first and primary developmental task of a human being and central to the person's ability to relate to others throughout life.  Bonding is often confused with attachment.

Cerebral Palsy - A non-hereditary condition resulting from brain damage before, during, or after birth.  Children with cerebral palsy lack muscle control in one or more parts of their bodies or may experience speech and language difficulties, depending on the area of the brain damaged.  Individuals with cerebral palsy can possess very normal mental functions.

Conduct Disorder - A condition characterized by a strong unwillingness to meet societal norms or expectations.

Cognitive Delays - Delays in the customary development of a person's ability to process information or think logically or analytically.

Developmental Disabilities - Often used to describe a variety of conditions, with implications ranging from mild to severe. It is usually used to describe any condition or disorder - physical, cognitive, or emotional - that interferes with a child's normal progress.

Disrupted Adoption - Occasionally, an adoptive family "disrupts" or severs an adoption. When this happens, the child returns to foster care and reenters the Minnesota Waiting Children program.

Emotional Behavior Disorder (EBD) - Children who are diagnosed with emotional or behavioral disorders have an established pattern of behavior characterized by one or more of the following:

• Severely aggressive and impulsive behaviors.
• Severely withdrawn or anxious, depression, mood swings, pervasive unhappiness.
• Severely disordered thought processes manifested by unusual behavior patterns, atypical communication styles, and distorted interpersonal relationships.
• Inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relations necessary to the learning process with peers, teachers, and others.
• Failure to attain or to maintain a satisfactory rate of educational or developmental progress that can not be improved or explained by cognitive, sensory, health, cultural, or linguistic factors.

Emotional Disabilities - Some children, due to their past history, genetics, or both, must cope with emotional difficulties in their daily living. These children may require special therapeutic school programs and special living arrangements. The school programs usually have varying levels.

Educable Mental Retardation (EMR) - Mental retardation affects people in different ways. Some have educable retardation, meaning they can be educated and trained for future responsibilities. EMR classes and programs help them achieve a level of independence. Roughly 85 percent of those with retardation fall into this category.

FASD - Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect - Conditions that result from alcohol use by the birth mother during pregnancy. Children born with FASD or FASD can have organic brain damage, low birth weight, birth defects, mental retardation, and learning impairments in varying degrees.

See our Factsheets on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Diagnosis and Adoption
and
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Strategies and Interventions

Guardian ad Litems - People who are appointed by judges to speak on behalf of the best interests of a child whose case is in juvenile court.  Duties include reading court documents, visiting the child in the foster home, and consulting with social workers, teachers, doctors and family members before making a report to the Court about the child's situation.  For more information, see www.friendsofchildren.com

Impulse Control Disorder - A mental disorder characterized by an individual's recurrent failure to resist impulsive behaviors that may be harmful to themselves or others.

Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) - A 1978 federal law that protects the rights of Native American children, families, and tribes. ICWA states that when placing a Native American child for adoption, preference should be given to extended family, tribal members, a Native American foster or adoptive family, or a Native American institution. The tribe has the right to make decisions regarding the Native American child's placement, and non-Native American families are considered for placement as a last resort. ICWA adoption provisions do not, however, apply to every Native American child in foster care - especially in cases where the children's Native American birth parents are not registered tribe members, or the tribes have given up their claim on the children.

Individual Education Plan (IEP) - A plan drawn up by a child's special education teacher and other parties that outlines specific skills the child needs to develop as well as learning activities that build on the child's strengths. 

See our Factsheet on Making IEPs User-Friendly

Learning Disabilities (LD) - Some children find learning in regular classrooms difficult. Children with learning disabilities may be of average or above average intelligence, but have difficulty learning, sorting, and storing information. LD classes may be recommended to help them achieve their potential in school.

Mainstreamed - In school, when a child is moved to a regular classroom from a classroom where he or she receives extra help or special services.

Motor Skills - A person's ability to use large and small muscle groups. Gross motor skill refers to use of large muscles in activities such as running or jumping. Fine motor skills refer to the small muscle coordination required for things like writing or buttoning a shirt.

Neglect - The failure of parents to meet the basic human needs of their children. This may include situations where children have been abandoned, or where there was a lack of care and support due to a parent's chemical use, other or situations where parents neglected or refused to provide the child with proper food, clothing, shelter, nurturing, education, or medical care.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) - A disorder characterized by behavior such as frequent loss of temper, a tendency to argue with adults, refusal to obey adult requests, deliberate behaviors to annoy others, spiteful and vindictive behavior, use of obscene language, and a tendency to blame others for mistakes. Symptoms sometimes indicate the early stage of conduct disorder.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - PTSD develops when a child experiences, witnesses, or is confronted with an extremely traumatic event. This could include actual or threatened death, serious injury or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others. For children, sexually traumatic events may include developmentally inappropriate sexual experiences or the threat of same to the child or others. These incidents cause the child to experience intense fear, helplessness, or horror. The child may also exhibit various physical symptoms related to this disorder.

Pre-Natal Drug Exposure - Cocaine or other drugs used during pregnancy can significantly increase the risk of damage to the child's nervous system. Children exposed to drugs in-utero may appear stiff and rigid, have prolonged and piercing crying episodes, are easily over stimulated, and face an increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Long term effects are uncertain.

Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) - A condition resulting from an early lack of consistent care, characterized by an inability to make appropriate social contact with others. Symptoms include developmental delays, lack of eye contact, feeding disturbances, hypersensitivity to touch and sound, failure to initiate or respond to social interaction, indiscriminate sociability, self stimulation, and susceptibility to infection.

See our Factsheet on The Nine Stages of Grief in Parents of RAD Kids

Residential Care - Structured live-in treatment for children with emotional and/or behavioral difficulties. This residential treatment may last several months or up to a year, depending on individual needs. It generally includes a school component.

Sexual Abuse - It's estimated that 90 percent of those defined as children with special needs have been sexually abused. This includes both boys and girls and even extremely young children.

Therapeutic Foster Home - A home where the foster parent or parents have received special training in dealing with a wide variety of children, including those who are moderately or severely disturbed, delinquent, mentally retarded, or medically fragile. Parents in therapeutic homes are also supervised and assisted more than parents in regular foster homes.