Post-Adoption Services

There are three (3) types of post-adoption evaluations that are offered through our medical clinic:

1. Initial Assessment Visit(s) (scheduled within a few weeks of your arrival home)

Please note: It is highly recommended that you schedule this appointment prior to your international trip, adoption or child placement as we tend to book up quickly.

  • The focus of the initial assessment visit will be to comprehensively examine your child to identify any medical, developmental, and emotional issues. These visits are typically scheduled to begin 1-2 weeks after your arrival home with your new child. Ideally, we would like to see you before your initial visit with your primary care pediatrician. We will collaborate with your pediatrician to prevent redundancy in assessment lab-work. If you are from out of state or travel more than 3 hours to our clinic, we can complete your initial assessment in one lengthy clinic visit (this is termed a "combined visit"). If you need a combined visit, please make arrangements through our office prior to coming to the clinic. Otherwise the initial assessment visit will be divided into two separate clinic visits. Please give us a call at 205-326-7553 to schedule an initial assessment visit with us.

    The first visit (Session 1) involves a comprehensive physical assessment, lab-work, and x-rays (if needed), all completed\ordered by our pediatrician. She will make appropriate referrals to subspecialist (if needed). This visit also includes a thorough assessment and recommendations from our Family Therapist, who specializes in helping adopted children integrate into their new families. The total time for this session visit can take up to 4 hours.

    The second visit (Session 2) of the initial assessment visit occurs about 3 weeks later. During this visit the pediatrician will review the results of your child's diagnostic testing\labwork, assess growth and nutrition and answer any questions you may have. You will also have a follow up consultation with our Family Therapist to assess the progress of integration within the family and continued concerns or questions regarding behavior/emotional needs. The Occupational\ Developmental Therapist will conduct a comprehensive developmental assessment with your child. This is typically about a 3 hour visit.

  • Following your child's Initial Post-Adoption Evaluation, our specialists will recommend to see you back at specific times depending on your family and child's unique needs.

    The monthly, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, 1 year, and annual follow up assessments include a review of medical/nutritional, developmental/educational, and emotional/behavioral issues for your child. The length of time between follow-up appointments will be determined by our specialists at each visit and will vary due to the child and family needs. At each follow up visit, you may see the doctor and family therapist as well as the developmental specialist, if applicable. Please give us a call at 205-326-7553 to schedule an initial assessment visit with us.

2. Follow-Up Visits

  • If your child has been in your home for 1 year or more and is having difficulties academically, emotionally or with behavior, you may want to have an Interdisciplinary Consultation completed. The focus of this visit is to sort out what developmental or emotional difficulties may be hindering your child from reaching his/her greatest potential.

    You and your child will have a consultation time with 3 specialists: Pediatrician, Developmental Specialist, and the Family Therapist.

    Please give us a call at 205-326-7553 to schedule an initial assessment visit with us.

3. Interdisciplinary Consults

Additional Clinic Services

Evaluations for Learning Differences, ADHD, Anxiety and Sensory Processing Disorder

  • Dyslexia Testing:

    Many of the children we see in clinic have learning differences. We are able to test and diagnose dyslexia if needed. 

    Specific Learning Disorders in reading (most commonly known as “Dyslexia”) is one of the most common learning disabilities in the world today. It affects about 1 in 5 of the population.  It is defined as a condition of neurodevelopmental origin that mainly affects the ease with which a person reads, writes (Dysgraphia) and spells.  It often affects one’s comprehension as well, due to the onerous task of reading the individual words on a page. Some also struggle with numbers and mathematics (Dyscalculia). It is not a reflection of intelligence.  Most people who struggle with this specific learning disorder have average to above average intelligence.  Early identification and remediation is imperative for best outcomes.

    The incidence of these specific learning disorders is much higher for children of adoption and foster care.  There are multiple reasons that can account for the higher numbers.  It could simply be genetics or it could be a result of prenatal and postnatal exposure, trauma, and\ or multiple life disruptions. The impact is often more severe and affects executive function skills such as communication with peers, planning, organizing, processing and attention.  Typically 40% of children with a learning disorder will also have a form of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

    For children of adoption and foster care, it is important to get accurate testing.  The examiner should have experience in the field of adoption and foster medicine as well as an understanding of trauma.  For example, some symptoms can present as anxiety when it may in reality be ADHD or vice versa. The examiner  will need to view results from a different lens than that of a child who has never experienced life outside of a biological nuclear family.

    At The Adoption and Foster Care Clinic we have a team that can administer the appropriate evaluations to get you the answers you need to help your child.  When testing is completed, you will have a diagnosis from a physician which can be used to assist with interventions in academics or we can connect you with interventionists and therapists who are able to start remediation.  If you have concerns about your child, don’t wait for things to get better.  Call today and schedule an evaluation.

    Please call 205-914-3027 for more information.

    ADHD, Anxiety, Sensory Processing Disorder:

    Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, Anxiety and Sensory Processing Disorder are very common in children from hard backgrounds. Each of these are often mistaken for the other. If not treated correctly, symptoms can be exacerbated. We provide a thorough assessment for each of these diagnoses to determine which is the predominant concern and to treat accordingly. This assessment is also done through the lens of the child’s unique history. We can provide occupational therapy, medication and/or counseling to improve the lives of children with these diagnoses. 

Foster Care Specific Services

  • Whenever a family has taken a child into their home via foster care, we provide an interdisciplinary consultation with our pediatrician, occupational therapist and family therapist to assess the needs of that child. These services are the same as our international and domestic adoption services, but the discussions are tailored to the needs of foster families. Our goal is to come alongside and support both the child and the parents to prevent the high rate of turnover of children in homes and burnout of foster parents. Because our interventions are based on parent support and intervention, we do ask that the foster parent be present at the visit.

Alternative Meeting Solutions

  • TELEHEALTH APPOINTMENTS

    We offer telehealth appointments to Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee residing families who cannot make it for a clinic appointment. We also offer “Welcome Home” telehealth appointments to Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee residing families to ensure that their child/children have the smoothest transitions while adapting to their new homes. Telehealth appointments are offered via Zoom. Telehealth appointment fees include a doctor copay, occupational therapy copay (with some insurances), and an out-of-pocket fee for a family therapy telehealth appointment. Please give us a call at 205-326-7553 to schedule a telehealth appointment with us.

    PHONE CONSULTS/COACHING

    (MD, Family Therapist or Developmental Therapist)

    In a situation where you are unable to attend a clinic visit or need immediate help, a phone consult is a good option for most families. Depending on your child's situation, you have the option to discuss medical issues with one of our doctors, behavioral/emotional issues with our family therapist, or developmental issues with our development specialist. These consults are all fee for service, there is no insurance billing. Please give us a call at 205-326-7553 to schedule an initial assessment visit with us.

    LETTER SERVICES

    There are a variety of situations that may warrant an official letter from our clinic, detailing adoption issues and providing education and advocacy for your child. If you are experiencing obstacles receiving developmental services, behavioral services, issues with care related to your child's school, and even some insurance coverage issues, these may be reasons to consider an official  letter from our clinic to those entities where you are experiencing issues. If your future child has clinically documented urgent medical issues requiring expedited medical attention, we can provide an official letter to you for an expedient international adoption process. (Note- expedited adoption letters are only written for those who have used our clinic for their international pre-adoption medical review).