LGBTQ+

LGBT National Help Center: LGBT National Youth Talkline

The LGBT National Youth Talkline will most apply to and benefit LGBT youth (age 25 and younger) who need free and confidential peer-support. On the webpage you can find the talklines hours and information on what to expect on a call.

LGBTQ+

Talkspace: “The History of the LGBTQ Community and Mental Health Treatment”

From TalkSpace.com, this source will most apply to and benefit those who are seeking information about the history of the LGBTQ community and mental health treatment. The article goes over an abbreviated history, how the LGBTQ identity came to be designated as a mental illness, conversion therapy history, ongoing conversations about gender, and current issues.

LGBTQ+

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): “Ensuring Comprehensive Care and Support for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children and Adolescents”

From the American Academy of Pediatrics, this source will most apply to and benefit pediatric providers or those who are interested in how pediatric providers are changing their approach to their LGBTQ+ patients. This academic article reviews “relevant concepts and challenges and provide suggestions for pediatric providers that are focused on promoting the health and positive development of youth that identify as TGD while eliminating discrimination and stigma.”

LGBTQ+

University of Michigan Center for Sexuality & Health Disparities: “All About Gender”

From Henry Ford, this guide can apply to and most benefit parents who have transgender, questioning, gender expansive, gender nonconforming, or non-binary kids. The guide explains terms, answers common questions, addresses transitioning, and gives additional resources

LGBTQ+

American Civil Liberties Union

ACLU (American Civil Liberites Union) can apply to and most benefit those who are part of the queer community and allies. The organization advocates for equality and has a long history of defending the LGBTQ+ community. On the website you can explore recent news, court cases, press releases, podcasts, reports, and more.

Literature

The Primal Wound

This book is a “seminal work which revolutionizes the way we think about adoption. It describes and clarifies the effects of separating babies from their birth mothers as a primal loss which affects the relationships of the adopted person throughout life”. This book also discusses pre-and perinatal psychology, attachment, bonding, and loss and gives adoptees, whose pain has long been unacknowledged or misunderstood, validation for their feelings, as well as explanations for their behavior. Additionally, it lists “the coping mechanisms which adoptees use to be able to attach and live in a family to whom they are not related and with whom they have no genetic cues”. The hope is that this book will “contribute to the healing of all members of the adoption triad and will bring understanding and encouragement to anyone who has ever felt abandoned”.

Literature

Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today’s Parents

This is a comprehensive guide for prospective and current adoptive parents on ways to understand and care for the adopted child and promote healthy attachment. It provides “practical parenting strategies designed to enhance children’s happiness and emotional health” and explains “what attachment is, how grief and trauma can affect children’s emotional development, and how to improve attachment, respect, cooperation and trust”. The listed parenting techniques are “matched to children’s emotional needs and stages, and checklists are included to help parents assess how their child is doing at each developmental stage”. This book covers a wide range of issues including international adoption, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and learning disabilities. It is also geared as an important resource for adopted professionals.

Medical Needs

Supportiv: “Mental Health Resources For Disabled People”

This is an ever-growing menu of free resources and ideas for maintaining health with a disability. It discusses insurance, therapy, government programs, and nature programs.

Medical Needs

Family Resource Center on Disabilities

The Family Resource Center is dedicated to “Providing Parents of Children with Disabilities with Information, Training, and Assistance.” Their resource page contains 20 categories on varying subjects for parents of children with disabilities and is available in Spanish.

Medical Needs

Child Welfare Information Gateway: “Parenting Your Child With Developmental Delays and Disabilities”

A basic overview on identifying a disability in children, the first steps parents can take to address their child’s needs, and strategies for parenting.