More adoptive children seeking help at private schools

Houston-area campuses reviewing curriculum to deal with the influx

July 29, 2008

By JENNIFER RADCLIFFE

Houston Chronicle

Crossroads, a small, private school near the Galleria, serves students with dyslexia, attention-deficit disorder and a handful of other learning disabilities.

It's no coincidence, experts said, that a large percentage of its students are also adopted.

Because of abuse, genetic issues and a lack of prenatal care, adoptive children are much more likely to struggle with learning disabilities, prompting their families to leave public schools in search of the extra help offered by often costly specialty schools.

While adoptive children account for 1 percent to 2 percent of the population, higher rates can be found in almost every mental health setting, including residential facilities and public school special education programs.

"It's not stigmatizing to kids to say they're getting more help. It's saying, 'We're doing the right thing for the kids,' " said Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. "Adoptive parents are being respectful and responsive."

Part of the reason for the higher rates is that adoptive parents tend to be more affluent and more willing to ask for extra help. And because they often don't have detailed information on their children's birth families, adoptive parents are usually quicker to seek advice if they spot an academic or emotional problem, experts said.

Educators at private specialty campuses say they're just starting to get a handle on the high concentrations of adoptive children — some have found adoption rates 20 times what would be expected in a typical classroom.

They said they're now paying extra attention to the counseling and curriculum they provide. They've learned that many of their children were born overseas or spent time in Child Protective Services.

"That's a large part of why they're here, not so much because they're adopted, but because of the difficult start they've had," said Gila Amoni, director of the Crossroads School.

Many of the adoptive children at Crossroads were born overseas. Other private schools report having high numbers of children placed through CPS.

Katy mother Leslie Smith sought out Houston's Gateway Academy for two of the four children she fostered and then adopted. They all had heartbreaking starts, including her 16-year-old son, Jordan, the seventh child born to a 22-year-old drug addict.

"I don't know any child in America who could go through the foster care system and not have some type of special need," Smith said. "I've intervened and fought for everything they've ever had in their lives. I'm not going to stop fighting when it comes to academic issues."

Smith got scholarships and a full-time job to afford the $50,000 a year in tuition needed to send two children to Gateway, a private high school for teens with learning disabilities.

Roughly 100,000 children were adopted in the United States last year by people other than their relatives. About half of those came through the foster care system. Some 20,000 were international adoptions, while at least 15,000 were private, domestic adoptions, said David Brodzinsky, a prominent author and researcher on adoption issues.

Sixteen-year-old Jordan said he's thrilled that his mom pulled him out of the Cypress-Fairbanks school district and found Gateway Academy last year.

"The classes are just small enough, and the teachers will help you out a lot," he said. "In Cy-Fair, they had a lot more kids. You kind of just have to survive."

Helping families adjust
Officials with Houston's specialty private schools say they're trying to be thoughtful about how they work with the influx of adoptive families.

The acceptance process regarding learning disabilities tends to be a little different for families with adoptive children, educators said. Parents who adopt, for instance, aren't forced to wonder whether they somehow caused the child's difficulties during pregnancy or handed it down through genetics.

"It's usually easier for them to accept their child's difficulties. They don't have the 'did I do something wrong in-utero?' guilt," said Shara Bumgarner, head of the Joy School, where at least 10 percent of the population is adopted.

At the same time, parents can have a difficult time adjusting their expectations for adoptive children. Some have a harder time understanding that the child may not be capable of following in their footsteps.

Adoptive parents should try to see the lack of predictability as a positive, Brodzinsky said.

"That's one of the the things they enjoy about raising adopted children: There's always surprises," he said.

When educators know they have high concentrations of adoptive children, they should seek training to make sure there's nothing in the curriculum that might be uncomfortable for an adoptive child.

"It's good information to have before a teacher jumps off and says, 'Let's do a family tree.' For some young children who know about the adoption, that might cause additional issues," said Carole Wills, head of The Briarwood School.

Whether a child is adopted and aware of the adoption are questions on Briarwood's application. At one of the school's three campuses, more than 10 percent of students were adopted.

Administrators said they plan to review adoption data again this school year to see if the statistics have changed.

"Anything, any piece of information we can learn about the child, the family, that will benefit us. It will help us educate that child," Wills said.

Bumgarner said her campus has come to expect to be a magnet for adoptive children.

"We don't even blink an eye anymore," she said.

jennifer.radcliffe@chron.com