Raising a special needs child can offer quite a challenge to parents. Last week, in a town nearby, a 28-year-old woman went missing from her family home. The family described their daughter as very intelligent and loving. Many people from surrounding areas are diligently searching for this young woman. Our temperatures here in Michigan have hovered around a bitter zero degrees Fahrenheit over the past week. It definitely is not safe to spend much time outside unless you are prepared with the proper protective clothing. However, that is not the case with this young woman. She left her family home, sometime during the night, in her bare feet and short sleeves.

Searchers were able to follow her footprints through the snow out of the family’s yard. As adoptive parents of special needs children, we understand that our children may not be able to live independently as adults. Unfortunately, many parents find this out long after the adoption is finalized. These parents are to be commended for their loyalty to these special children.

This young woman was normal throughout her school years. The article said that she wrote poetry and enjoyed politics in high school. When she was 19, she was diagnosed as bipolar and began displaying unusual behaviors. The parents told the newspaper that their daughter has bad spells when she suffers from hallucinations, a paranoid fear of hospitals, mood swings, and an inability to acknowledge she is sick or cold.

Her mother indicated that over the past 10 years her daughter has been unable to recognize her body’s need for warmth. This is not the first time their daughter has taken off without proper winter clothing. Her mother described other situations where her daughter did not recognize she was cold and suffered frostbite. Usually she calls home within hours to be picked up, but not this time.
Disorders of the mind, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, usually do not show symptoms until the teen or young adult years. Two of our adopted children have a high risk of developing this disorder because their birth mother has this diagnosis. Research has indicated that there is a higher risk of developing the disorder if close family members have it.

According to the Mayo Clinic episodes of

either mania or depression may result in psychosis, or a detachment from reality. Symptoms of psychosis may include hearing or seeing things that aren't there (hallucinations) and false but strongly held beliefs (delusions). There's no sure way to prevent bipolar disorder. However, treatment at the earliest sign of a mental health disorder can help prevent bipolar disorder from worsen.

Photo Credit Julia Fuller 2007