Image of a Black woman in a red shirt hugging a Black teenaged son in a gray shirt. They are standing in front of outdoor stairs.

Dr. Claudia Sellmaier and I conducted a survey of U.S. adoptive parent participants for a survey about parenting an adopted child with a disability. Participants had to be parenting at least one adopted child who was under 18 years old* and who had one or more developmental, physical or mental health disability. *Parents may also have adopted children who are older than 18 years old, but at least -one- of their adopted children was required to be under 18 years to participate in the study.

Image of a family. On the left is a man with dark hair and a brown shirt. in the center is a Black child in a blue button up shirt, holding a pink and purple toy plane. On the left is a Black man in a gray shirt and glasses.

We were interested in learning more about the experiences of adoptive parents who have an adopted child with a disability and their experiences with adoption agencies, service providers, and their place of employment. We aim to use the findings to better improve the lives of adoptive parents and adopted children and youth with disabilities.

The survey consisted of up to 67 questions and included multiple choice and open-ended questions. The current study also received IRB approval from the University of Washington Human Subjects Review Board.

Publications

Sellmaier, C. & Kim, J. (2023). Working and caring for a disabled adopted child in times of  COVID-19. Child and Family Social Work, 28(1), 222-235. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12955