Chapter 3 - Differential Diagnoses and the Structure of School-Based Recommendations for Internationally Adopted Children

Summary

Proper differential diagnosis has the utmost significance for rehabilitation and remediation of IA children who may present symptoms of many childhood mental health ailments while the core of their conditions is developmental trauma disorder. DTD results in overt behavior that has similar patterns with post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autistic spectrum disorder, attachment disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, conduct disorder, childhood depression, and other mental health disturbances. Too often, IA children are given a range of diagnoses that are missing the underlying general cause of their conditions, thus subjecting these children to maltreatment. There is no “one-fits-all” set of recommendations – each and every advice and direction contained in recommendations is to be as individual as the child's issues. In the school domain, there is a set of laws and procedures known as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that determines the ways and means of remediation in this institution. The major instrument of school-based remediation is the Individual Educational Program (IEP) that includes many specific components and could be an effective instrument in the rehabilitation and remediation of IA children. This chapter contains the major components of remedial and rehabilitative professional recommendations in the school context.