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Jane Ryan has heard the stories before.
Children have been traumatized or neglected, never knowing the love of a parent or the stability of a happy home.
When they cried, no one responded or offered comfort.
No one talked to them, smiled at them or played with them.
They were mistreated and abused.
Now, those children are reacting to the world around them with abnormal behavior.
They trust no one. They'll threaten the families with whom they are living. They'll lie, be manipulative and wish they were dead.
When their foster or adoptive mothers try to hold them, they pull away.
These children have reactive attachment disorder — a condition that develops when basic physical and emotional needs were never met.
Frequently, the condition remains undiagnosed.
The foster or adoptive parents don't know what is wrong. The children don't understand their behavior. And the medical community thinks they are bipolar or suffering from a variety of attention disorders.
That is why Ryan has spent years trying to educate the public about reactive attachment disorder, also known as RAD, which she calls an epidemic.
And she speaks not just as a therapist, but as an adoptive mother of a son and daughter who were diagnosed with the disorder.
"I have four children and two are adopted," Ryan said. "The adopted children both have RAD."
Today, she said, they are 40 and 37 years of age.
Because of personal challenges she faced, Ryan works to help other families with children who have been traumatized early in life.
She wrote a book, "Broken Spirits Lost Souls: Loving Children with Attachment and Bonding Difficulties," which offers a view of the effects of attachment and bonding interruptions.
And she wrote a novel and screenplay, "The Boarder," which addresses the impact children with RAD have on their families.
Ryan funded the movie on her own, with help from supporters who believe there needs to be more awareness of reactive attachment disorder.
Children have been traumatized or neglected, never knowing the love of a parent or the stability of a happy home.
When they cried, no one responded or offered comfort.
No one talked to them, smiled at them or played with them.
They were mistreated and abused.
Now, those children are reacting to the world around them with abnormal behavior.
They trust no one. They'll threaten the families with whom they are living. They'll lie, be manipulative and wish they were dead.
When their foster or adoptive mothers try to hold them, they pull away.
These children have reactive attachment disorder — a condition that develops when basic physical and emotional needs were never met.
Frequently, the condition remains undiagnosed.
The foster or adoptive parents don't know what is wrong. The children don't understand their behavior. And the medical community thinks they are bipolar or suffering from a variety of attention disorders.
That is why Ryan has spent years trying to educate the public about reactive attachment disorder, also known as RAD, which she calls an epidemic.
And she speaks not just as a therapist, but as an adoptive mother of a son and daughter who were diagnosed with the disorder.
"I have four children and two are adopted," Ryan said. "The adopted children both have RAD."
Today, she said, they are 40 and 37 years of age.
Because of personal challenges she faced, Ryan works to help other families with children who have been traumatized early in life.
She wrote a book, "Broken Spirits Lost Souls: Loving Children with Attachment and Bonding Difficulties," which offers a view of the effects of attachment and bonding interruptions.
And she wrote a novel and screenplay, "The Boarder," which addresses the impact children with RAD have on their families.
Ryan funded the movie on her own, with help from supporters who believe there needs to be more awareness of reactive attachment disorder.
