Parent, teacher, and child can all be impacted by adoption related issues. Parents wonder how much to tell schools. Teachers need to create assignments sensitive to adoptive and foster care families. And, children wonder if having been adopted will make them different.

In the early years of school, it's often beneficial for schools to know about any possible adoption related issues that your child might have so that they can mitigate the impact. If a child has been internationally adopted, there may be language-related issues to be dealt with. If a foster child has been adopted, there may be questions from other students about the change of last name. For a child suffering from the aftermath of trauma and neglect in their early years, they may need special accommodations to help overcome these issues.

Teachers can be blind sided by adoption related issues if they give out assignments that may be inappropriate for a child who was adopted. Or, if a child needs to miss school due to special therapies that are needed to help the child, they need to be aware of the situation.

Children have varying issues about being adopted depending on their personality, age at adoption, stages of their life, and more. They may be uneasy talking about having been adopted, or they might share about it at every opportunity.

Families need to determine what needs to be shared with schools throughout their child’s school years. Teachers need to develop adoption-sensitive materials. And children need to be empowered to talk about being adopted or not.