Don't call them Radishes!

I came across this article while looking for more information...what do you guys think?

A Final Word: Don't Call Them Radishes!

Therapist Gregory Keck, who works with many children with RAD and who wrote the book Helping the Hurt Child, makes an interesting statement about the acronym "R-A-D". He points out that many parents of children with RAD and organizations for children with RAD refer to the children as "Rad Kids" or even "Radishes". Keck wonders what would happen if, at a conference for parents of children with cancer, a mother stood up and said, "I'm a Cancer mom with three Cancer kids! These Cancer kids are really hard to live with! Cancer kids sometimes even cause their parents to get divorced!" Obviously, such words would not be appropriate. But in the case of RAD, this language is often accepted. Keck says that calling a child a "Rad Kid" or "Radish" degrades the child, putting more emphasis on the child and less on the disorder. It refers to the child as if he was the disorder, and as if the disorder was as permanent as hair color or ethnic background.

Keck suggests that we always use the words "Reactive Attachment Disorder" or say the acronym "RAD", instead of saying "Rad", "Rad kid" or "Radish". This puts our focus back on what RAD really is. It is Reactive because the child is reacting to trauma. Attachment is what the child is unable to do as a result. And Disorder suggests that it is something that can be treated. As a person who has worked with children with special needs for years, I think this idea goes along well with the "people first" language. Children with RAD are, after all, children first. 

Link to full article is here.


I've never been comfortable with the term and have used it only twice because I didn't want to give my children's names specifically and never in front of my children, just because I wasn't sure how to explain it.  But I'm not sure I buy into the explanation this author gives... after all when I am talking about RAD, I am talking about my child's RAD behaviors, not my child. My children are totally different when they are regulated and not having RAD behaviors. Personally, I use regulated and dysregulated around them and just found out I should be teaching them those terms. Instead, I've chosen to use stressed out for dysregulated so they can maybe start to identify with words when they are feeling out of sorts. 


BTW, the title of this post isn't my point of view or opinion, I just took it from the section of the article I pasted.