It all began with a mom, Googling. Amy VanTine desperately needed help for her adopted daughter with reactive attachment disorder (RAD). Her daughter wasn’t getting the help she needed to address the effects of early abuse and neglect—the root cause of her disorder.
Yet, Amy’s Google search only showed more of the same unhelpful information she’d come across before. From various therapies to multiple parenting techniques, she had tried it all. Meanwhile, Amy's daughter was getting more sick and the family was falling apart. The impact of her daughter’s early trauma severely impacted everyone in the home.
Just as Amy began to give up all hope, however, she found another mom online dealing with the same struggles with her adopted child. And then another. It just so happened that both of the women lived in her same small Colorado town.
Amy wasn't alone anymore.
In fact, Amy continued to find more parents online. She happened upon hundreds of people from all over the world struggling to raise kids with RAD. Just like Amy, they were dismissed by therapists, friends, family, and educators—everyone they turned to for help. Instead of finding support for their families, they were unjustly blamed and shamed for “poor parenting”.
Amy and the other moms she met felt compelled to do something. Parents of children with RAD needed a voice. And the people around them needed education about the disorder to better support their families.
So three moms began RAD Advocates in 2017. Since then, RAD Advocates has spent hundreds of hours, whether over the phone or at community events, empathizing with and advising other parents in crisis day and night. They've educated graduate students at Metropolitan State University about RAD, shared their personal parenting stories with clinicians at theMayo Clinic, and lobbied for legislation to protect families.
We've only just begun. And we invite you to join us.
Attend Navigating RAD 2021, a unique conference for parents of children with reactive attachment disorder, this August. After years of dreaming and planning, we're thrilled to bring this conference to life. We'd be honored if you'd be a part of it.
Thank you for your ongoing support of RAD Advocates.
We couldn't do our work without you. The louder our unified voices, the more effective we are in making systemic change for our families, our children, and our future as a global community.
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