How to Prepare Transracial Adoptees for Transitioning to College

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How can parents help their transracial adoptees transition to college, and why can this transition be hard for both teens and parents? We talk with Dr. Amanda Baden, a Professor in the Counselor Education Program at Montclair State University. She is an active researcher and currently leads their Adoption Research Team. She is also a transracial adoptee and a member of the Creating a Family board.

In this episode, we cover:

• Acknowledge that this will likely be a strange year for preparing anyone to go to college.
• What are the major developmental milestones for all adolescents that happen during the 15-20 age frame?
• What are some of the additional developmental milestones for adolescent adoptees?
• What are the additional developmental milestones for transracial adoptees during the late teen years?
• Why is the transition to college sometimes a difficult one for transracial adoptees?
• What do you mean by “honorary whiteness”?
• Is the experience of transitioning to college different depending on the race of adoptees?
• Some adoptees feel like the bridge between the race/culture of their adoptive family and the race/culture of their birth. What are the issues with being the bridge?
• Are there specific things parents and transracially adopted teens should look for when choosing a college?
• The complexities of using the “transracial adoption story” as part of the college essay.
• How can the feeling of rejection that some adoptees feel be exacerbated in the college application process?
• How does the college experience impact adoptee identity development?
• Can the transition to college be especially difficult for parents of transracial adoptees?
• Parents are concerned about whether their child will leave and emotionally not return.
• Birth parent search is usually open to adolescents at age 18, which is right during this time of transition.
• How can parents help their transracial adoptees make a successful transition to college?

This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

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Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building