CCN and Eldertree...yes, yes!

Please do your research on RAD. I am glad that he did not go ahead and label this as it is an extremely rare and potentially severe diagnosis reserved for only the most seriously "attachment disturbed" children.

I see many, many kids in my practice who have attachment issues, that sometimes we might informally label as "attachment disorders" due to their time in foster care, adoption, or changes in caregivers as young kids (parent dies, for example). However, in 15 years of treatment, the only kids that I have seen who truly fit the symtoms of RAD are few and far between. They come from horrifically abusive families, poorly-run foreign orphanages, warn-torn countries, or kids with severe illnesses that caused them long-term hospital stays as infants/toddlers (leukemia or multiple corrective heart surgeries, for example).

See article from Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/reactive-attachment-disorder/DS00988/METHOD=print&DSECTION=all

Most parents seek treatment for kids with RAD because they feel unsafe with their children. Kids with RAD can be extremely violent with seemingly no regard for others. They have violent outbursts that seem to eerily shut off in a snap. Parents often are frightened by their 'calculating' nature, such as a child tricking a sibling to hurt themselves so they can have the computer for the night.

A child with RAD has never formed adequate trusting relationships with adults, and therefore must forage life with 'take or be taken' mindset.

Please seek an experienced psychologist or trauma specialist if you are considering RAD...I have seen it too casually flung about in the mental health community.