Articles Book III - Pg 300-560 (Birthparents) - triadoption

Family Involvement
VolumeTenlNumbor Fivo 1978 ISSN 1031 9-1443)
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Family threat
Editorial director
by JOHN L. BROWN. FRSH. ACSW, AGPA
JOHN L. BROVVN
FRSH. ACSW. AGPA
Edltor
GLORIA SHEPHARD
Circulation and
production co.ordinator
CHRISTOPHER MORDEN
Photographs
F. ROBERT OPENSHAW
FAMILY INVOLVEMENT JOURNAL
P.O. Box 936,
Station K.
Toronto, Ont.,
Canada
M4P 2H2
Family threat
by John Brown Paye 1
A birthmother looks at ndoptlon
by Stephanie Tay page 12
Early childhood autism
by John Carew page 29
Roviews page 4 7
is published by Canodian Educational Programmas
and is a member of tho
Canadian Periodical Publishers' Association
Thero Is a movement currently in voguo in
North Amorica - and maybe olsowhorc,
but tho movoment in North America is tho
one I am most familiar with - to grant
childron soparato and legal rights. Tharo
hova boon a number of dramatic accounts
in the media of children who, with the holp
of lawyors. hnvo suod their parents for
support, or hava sued adoption agcncios
for not having put thom up for adoption,
otc. Gonoraily, tho plea is that the child is a
soparato baing who has soparoto individual
and legal rights and that those soparato
rights should bo ostablished in law. In
Canada, thcso individual rigtits don't exist
for childron or adults, we exist at tho pleasura
of tho stato. A child has tho samo
rights as any other individual parson has.
but thcso rights havo not boon recognized
in practice. Children havo always boon
treated as though thoy did not hnvo tho
samo legal rights accorded other persons
and, in consequence of that, childron liava
been subioctod to all mannor of cocrcivo
rnaasurcs which forcod thom to submit to
treatment or placomonts that woro inappropriate,
or oven harmful, once thoir own
family was taken out of tho picturo.
bohaviour, was tho least dosirablo and tho
least likoly to hova considoration given to
hini wlion peoplo plannod for his caro and
treatment. Then it would go on up tt~rough
the scalo through nourotic childron.
psychotic childron. n~entally rotordod
children on up to brain damaged childron.
Bocauso if you could identify soma typo of
brain damago, it was moro likely that you
could establish services tlrat gave tho child
more. It was as though the brain damaged
child had an "accoptnblo" handicap. It was
as though ha and his parents wero absolved
from blamn for that handicap and so doserved
batter or morn costly sarvicos.
For many years, vory littlo was dona for tho
mentally retarded child becauso familios
wore ashamed of having a mentally retarded
cliild and often kept thorn hiddan away
at homo. or plocod them in institutions and
triad to forgot about them. But as families
got organizod, tho ralardod child achicvcd 11
tiighor status in torms of nttcntiot~ and cart!
from society - not as a result of pressure
Iron1 lawyers, profcssionals in human services
or govornnicnt. oithor civil scrvatits or
politicians, but as a result of fanlilies
demanding moro support and hclp with tho
spacial needs ol thoir rotardcd child.
Familios organizod, lobbied and demanded
that tho rights of rotardod childron bo
rocogtiizod. Familios aro just now beginning
to gain accoptancu of tho rotardcd chilcl's
right to service within his own family.
This was a matter of groat concorn to us in
our carliar work becauso we roalizod that
not only was the child without lcgnl rights
in practico, but lie liad vory few liurnan
rights. This was, of course, particularly truo
of tho cliild who lied been idont~fied as a
~roblom. tho cliild wlio had ;I dilficultv 01
I
somu kind. All those chilcfron who woro in
arly way deviant were lumped togctlier But always, in our cxpcrienco, the child
that tho dolinquent, or acting out cliild wlio child wlio wasn't rticc and obedient, the
uxprossed his problem througli disruptive child wlio ilctod as if ha oxpactad sonie
VOLUME 10INUMBER 5 1
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