Reactive Attachment Disorder: Our Story
I had heard of the terms before, but until I agreed to take my 13-year-old niece in, “Reactive Attachment Disorder”, sometimes known as “detachment disorder”, or simply “attachment disorder”, held no personal significance to me. My husband and I took our niece in to live with us in March of 2015. While we knew, and anticipated that there would be significant problems, we had no idea as to the extent of her disability. Our niece was diagnosed with RAD, shortly after coming to live with us and, despite the fact that this is a disorder that was barely on my screen of consciousness prior to that time, my husband and I have both come to understand it quite well. Making it go away was another matter entirely. As a counselor for more than 18 years, I had come to appreciate signs and symptoms pointing to specific diagnoses, yet I was astounded to see how closely and how clearly our niece fit the pattern for RAD. I only wish that treating the problem were as easy as diagnosing it