I Am Not Alone – Why ATN?
by: Jane Samuel I found the blue rubber wristlet where I had left it – at the bottom of my tote bag. As a mom and daughter who floats through her days carrying her work with her from home to carpool to cross country meets to piano lessons to visits at the senior citizen […]
Everyday, I Get Up and Go to Work . . .
Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote everyday, about the kind of community you want to live in. – Unknown by: Julie Beem Everyday, I get up and stumble into my home office…to volunteer. Often I’m three cups of coffee in and still […]
Inspiration: Taking Flight
by: Gari Lister One of my youngest daughter’s biggest challenges is self esteem – and sadly her lack of self esteem is combined with an inability to imagine and dream. Not dream at night, but dream of an exciting future. My sweet girl can very easily imagine herself getting cancer, or epilepsy, or even cystic […]
The Attachment Yardstick
by: Melissa Sadin Typically, our children’s lives are measured by events such as birthdays, grades in school, graduation, etc. Recently, however, it occurred to me that there are other events by which I measure my son’s growth. Oh sure, I’m proud of him when he does well in sports, gets a good grade in school, […]
Tuesday Toolbox: Calm Down Box
by: Allison Cooke Douglas We’ve used a “Calm Down Box” with our child for years. It’s full of tools they can use when they are beginning to escalate. This is a specific child’s box, so it’s tailored to his specific sensory needs; yours would not look exactly the same. We offer it to him as […]
Why I Always Renew My ATN Membership
by: Julie Beem Ok – this is a strange topic for the Executive Director to blog about. Yes, I’m biased. But here’s the deal…I pay my annual Attachment & Trauma Network (ATN) membership dues each year because I know what an impact my dues make. In the beginning, my membership was all about me. I […]
On Safari . . . at Home
by: Gari Lister Earlier this month I was lucky enough to be able to go on safari in South Africa. The most important component of our visit was two “game drives” each day – essentially several hours riding around the preserve looking for animals in a specially equipped land rover. And if you are a […]
Don’t Give Up on Kids like Charlie and Moms Like Me
We are thrilled to welcome Allison Cooke Douglas to the ATN blog team. Allison is not only an adoptive and former foster mom, she is also a foster parent trainer and leader. She currently serves as a DCS Foster Parent Education Specialist for Centerstone in Tennessee. As her opening post, we are sharing her remarks as […]
First Day – Joy, Sadness and Anxiety
by: Gari Lister Most schools in Dallas started Monday, and my Facebook feed is full of happy children getting ready for their first day of school. My own daughter started last week — on Wednesday, of all weird days — and somehow I missed posting her picture (so of course I’m embarrassing her by posting […]
A Niche for Every Child
by: Craig Peterson All children need a special activity in their lives – something to call their own. And especially those who’ve experienced trauma. Many of these opportunities happen through school. For some it’s team sports. For others it might be music or theater. In the case of my son Andrew, he found his niche […]