Love Is A Start: The Real Challenges Of Raising Children With Emotional Disorder

This is an uplifting story from the author, Donna Shilts, who as the adoptive mother of two little boys, both labeled severely emotionally disturbed, worked to find what was best for her children. Shilts struggled for a long time with the traditional techniques thought to be helpful to children who do not relate to others. But it wasn’t until she realized her child’s problem was with the brain rather that the spirit that she was able to move forward; to start “thinking outside of the box.” Parents and therapists in many other states were using cognitive remediation/brain development techniques and strategies to help children like hers. She did not have to accept that nothing could be done. It was a spiritual journey as well as an educational one as she had to have faith in something she could not always see: the development of a child from the inside out. She also learned that she alone was the best advocate for her child.