Adopting older children vs. younger children

Kathy Gordon, Parent Educator & Adoptive Mom, shares advice for those considering adopting a child on the differences between adopting an older child and a young child
Adopting An Older Child vs Adopting A Young Child
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Adopting older children vs. younger children

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I chose to adopt a younger child versus an older child, and I chose to adopt an infant, in fact. That was my preference, because I was a big sister through the Big Sister program and I was matched with a 15-year old, she was almost 16 when we were matched. And I experienced that there was so much water under the bridge, that her family dynamic was something that I couldn't change and she really needed earlier intervention. So I really wanted to start from the beginning with the child. And I understood how my attachment and my interaction with them would actually literally shape their brain. So that was my preference to actually adopt a baby.

Kathy Gordon, Parent Educator & Adoptive Mom, shares advice for those considering adopting a child on the differences between adopting an older child and a young child

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Kathy Gordon

Parent Educator

Kathy Gordon is the single adoptive mother of a very spirited nine year-old boy, but was not prepared for the challenges of parenting a child whose brain was developed under stress. When her son was three, Kathy had the good fortune of taking parenting classes with Ruth Beaglehole, founding Director of the Center for Nonviolent Education and Parenting, (theechocenter.org), and she realized this powerful compassionate method of working with children was something she wanted to teach. She has been a teacher, director and coach most of her adult life. Kathy was certified as a Parent Educator through the Center for Nonviolent Education and Parenting in May of 2008, and will now continue her training by becoming a Certified Hand-in-Hand Parenting Parent Educator. Kathy works with families individually, teaches parenting classes and facilitates trainings for educators and schools communities. Her practice is called Unconditional Connection because we all long for connection, and we long to be unconditionally loved. We live in a society in which we are continually judged by our behavior. Kathy offers research-based information and tools to help people look underneath and beyond the behavior, so that we may be more unconditionally connected thus creating a world of cooperation and peace. 

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