Vol. 3, No. 2 • Spring 1999

A Young Child's Point of
View on Foster Care and
Adoption
by Michael Trout, Director, The Infant-Parent Institute,
Champaign, Illinois

Young children who have lost someone very important to them often �speak� about that loss through their behavior, rather than with words. I have been privileged to watch young children under these circumstances for the past quarter-century, often trying to imagine what each child would be saying if he chose words, instead of stiffening and back-arching and sleeplessness and wandering about the house opening and closing doors.

The interactive and affective �language� of young children is a worthy language, deserving of our attention and respect. In an effort to put into words that which is already being �said� by young children whose mothers or fathers have disappeared, temporarily or permanently, I created a videotape, Multiple Transitions: Portraying a Young Child�s Point of View on Foster Care and Adoption.

Is it possible that in the video script I have misrepresented what young children are saying? Is it likely, indeed, that each child has something different to say? Of course.

But, it is also possible that we adults�who are so dependent upon words for communication�might overlook or misunderstand the interactive and affective language of young children if it is not, at some point, put into words for us.

So, this video is an effort to make more intelligible, for those of us in a position to make a difference, what young children would like to say�indeed, often are saying�about the foster care or adoptive circumstances in which they find themselves.

It is my hope that policy makers, clinicians, and researchers and instructors in child development will all find some benefit in this interpretation of the language of young children. The following excerpt from the videotape script (see box at right) represents a young child�s advice to the adults in charge of his fate.

For more information, contact: Michael Trout, Director, The Infant-Parent Institute, 328 North Neil Street, Champaign, Illinois, tel: (217) 352-4060.

Copyright � 2000 Jordan Institute for Families