Do you know any parents whose children have been diagnosed with late-onset hearing loss?

Krysty, it sounds like you first realized that late-onset hearing loss might be a topic that other parents would want to learn more about when it started to happen in your family — twice. What was that like?

It really hit me completely off guard – both times! With my son I honestly thought he just had a speech delay, at the time I never made the connection between hearing loss and a speech delay. It of course seems so obvious now. With myself I knew I was having some difficulties hearing, I started noticing it shortly after the birth of my son, but again thought it would be no big deal.

In the beginning with my son it was pretty devastating – it’s just really difficult to have someone tell you that something is not right with your child’s development.

As you responded to your son’s and then your diagnosis, what stands out that you learned that you think other parents will want to learn more about?

The main thing that stands out is really that hearing loss can happen to anyone at anytime and that there shouldn’t be a stigma attached to wearing hearing aids, or other devices. It is estimated that there are about 29 million people in the United States who are deaf and/or hard of hearing. If people were made more aware of the importance of hearing then I think you would see more of them going for appropriate treatments and would see more assistive listening devices, such as hearing aids, being worn.

What’s typically the biggest dilemma for families after there has been a diagnosis in the family of late-onset hearing loss?

I am not really sure if you can call it a dilemma, but the biggest issue revolves around the family accepting the diagnosis and moving forward with getting their child the help they need – whether that road leads to hearing aids, cochlear implants, Baha devices, along with an intensive therapy program. Around 90 percent of children who are diagnosed with hearing loss are born to hearing parents. This means that those families often have not had any exposure to children and/or adults who have hearing loss. At the moment of diagnosis while there is some relief to understanding your child’s development there is also a feeling of complete devastation. This feeling is based in frustration and stems from simply knowing very little about hearing loss and how it will impact their child. I wrote my e-book to address this issue of frustration and helplessness and I really think it will help parents adjust to parenting a child with hearing loss.

If you were sitting down face-to-face with parents of a child who had just been diagnosed with late-onset hearing loss, what would you say to them?

First of all I would tell them to grieve, that it’s okay. That is what they need to do, to experience their feelings and emotions. Then I would tell them that it is going to be okay. That there are strengths within both themselves and their child that they don’t even know about yet and the important thing is to get their child the therapy and assistive listening devices that they need to be successful.

Which part of spreading a helpful message about late-onset hearing loss is your favorite part of the process?

My favorite part of the process is when I get the chance to help clear away some of the myths about hearing loss. There is absolutely no shame in losing your hearing – it’s just life. Hearing loss can happen at any age. In my opinion, the wearing of hearing aids or cochlear implants to correct your hearing loss is no different than wearing glasses to correct your vision loss.

Have there been any silver linings in your journey in dealing with late-onset hearing loss as a family?

The first silver lining has been watching my son blossom. There were many times, both pre-diagnosis and in the early stages after his diagnosis, when I honestly wondered if I would ever really know anything about my son. How could I access his thoughts if he wasn’t able to speak? But today, I am so thankful that he is now able to share his wicked sense of humor and his daily observations of his world with us. The second silver lining is the fact that we have really been given an opportunity to help educate those who are not familiar with issues of hearing loss.

You can learn more about Krysty’s helpful, comforting book, What To Do When Your Child Is Diagnosed With Late-Onset Hearing Loss: A Parent’s Perspective at her website, Krystyann Krywko, Ed. D.

Thanks for helping me support Krysty’s e-book launch. I’d love it if you’d help spread the word about What To Do When Your Child Is Diagnosed With Late-Onset Hearing Loss: A Parent’s Perspective.

For over three years, Abigail Green has been teaching alongside of me. She offers two levels of classes in essay-writing: Personal Essays that Get Published and Personal Essays that Get Published, Level Two.

You won’t be surprised to hear that Abby’s students don’t just write personal essays, they write personal essays that get published.

Abby has published more than 150 articles and essays in regional and national publications including American Baby, Baltimore Magazine, Bride’s, Health and Smithsonian.

I hear my students talking about what a great instructor Abby is all the time. But don’t take my word for it. Try out her level one class for yourself. The next one begins on August 24th. Students register by August 16th. You can thank me later!

In the meantime, I asked Abby some questions about one of her favorite topics—writing essays that get published.

CK: What is it about essay writing that keeps you coming back to the form?

Abigail Green: When you’re writing about your life and your experiences, you have an endless source of material. People often ask me where I get my ideas for essays and the answer is “all around me.” I never run out of ideas.

I also like writing essays because it helps me process things in a different way. E.M. Forster, I believe, said “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” That’s how I feel about writing essays.

I appreciate the creative outlet that essays provide. I am doing more corporate writing these days. While it pays the bills, it’s not as fun, which is why I continue to write personal essays.

CK: How long have you been writing essays for publication and what have you learned in the process?

Abigail Green: If you count op/eds as short personal essays, which I do, then the answer is since high school, when the local paper published my opinion piece about playing rock music at tennis tournaments. It was the ’80s, the era of Agassi and acid-washed jeans. I was against it, for the record.

Since then I’ve published all kinds of personal essays, from long literary pieces to health essays to humor. I’ve learned that absolutely any subject can be “essay-worthy” if it’s well written. Most essays I write, and most of my students’, are not timely or tied to news or trends in the way that reported articles are; they’re evergreen. For instance, you can publish an essay about your experience as a new mom even if your kid is 20.

CK: What are students most surprised to learn about essay writing, when they take your classes?

Abigail Green: That while essays are based in fact, you are “allowed” and even encouraged to shape the stories as you wish to make them interesting and meaningful. There’s no rule saying you have to write about events in chronological order or leave in every detail. Some of the best personal essays read like great fiction, only they’re true.

What kinds of growth have you seen in your own essay writing efforts and those of your students?

Abigail Green: In my own essays, I have seen them become less stiff and formal, more personal and creative. I attribute this largely to writing a personal blog for five years. Three 500-or-so word posts each week for five years is a LOT of writing. It’s allowed me to try new styles, generate material that later gets turned into essays, and get instant feedback from readers. I think blogging is a great practice for any writer.

As for my students, in my Level 2 class there’s an exercise where they write about the same anecdote from a “telling” perspective and a “showing” perspective. Many of them are used to writing in a certain style and not mixing things up. So it’s a thrill for some people to discover a new writing technique. It’s another tool to add to their repertoire.

When class is over, what strides are your students most proud of making?

Abigail Green: Most of them are thrilled to have at least two complete, polished essays (and cover letters) ready to send out for submission. We do a lot of revising and reslanting in class, and while essays are never truly “done,” by the end of class students have gained the confidence to send their essays out into the world. I’ve had several people get their work accepted during the class or very soon after.

Abby Green teaches Personal Essays that Get Published, Levels 1 and 2. A longtime freelance writer, her articles and essays have appeared in numerous regional and national publications. Her latest essay, “Taking a Page from My Own Book,” appears in the August 2011 issue of Skirt magazine. You can find out more about Abby on her web site, www.AbigailGreen.com, or her blog, www.AbbyOffTheRecord.com.

While we were attending the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference earlier this year, I challenged Jane Friedman to write a book on the future of publishing. Much to my surprise, she took me up on it.

On April Fool’s Eve, I posted an interview with Jane just prior to the unveiling of “The Future of Publishing: Enigma Variations” on April Fool’s Day.

I thought readers would be interested in hearing first-hand what it’s like to self-publish a short, smart, humor e-book, so I asked Jane for another interview this time with a behind-the-scenes look at the e-book creation process. I hope you enjoy it.

Christina Katz: Okay, so I challenged you to write an e-book and you agreed. Why in the world did you say, “Yes”?

Jane Friedman: Ha! My first thought was: No one cares what I think about the future of publishing, and I’m personally and professionally tired of speculation.

But then it occurred to me that I might have fun with the topic. I do know the issues inside and out, so once I decided to engage in a little satire, I got excited about the idea.

I also came up with a strict framework. Having a structure to play off of was important to idea generation and my enthusiasm. In this case, the framework was “14 variations on the future,” inspired by Elgar’s work, “Enigma Variations.”

I was also curious to see if an online (and real world) following would translate into people who’d pay money to read my writing. At this point, people can read most of my advice online for free. They may have to pay to hear me speak, but the writing itself is delivered free of charge, with the exception of the Beginning Writers’ Answer Book from 2006.

Christina Katz: But writing an e-book that is high-enough quality to charge money for is not an easy undertaking. You must have had some concerns at the outset. Would you be willing to share some of them?

Jane Friedman: Yes, I had 3 primary concerns.

1.     Even if by reading the entire work you had a better understanding of the issues at play in the publishing industry, I was still writing humor. Humor is not something people often pay for, no matter how high quality it is.

2.     People will pay good money for information that benefits them. But they rarely pay for speculation—at least in the publishing field! And since I was writing about the future of publishing, what else could my e-book be called except pure speculation?

3.     I knew the work would be quite short, especially given the fast turn-around time. It ended up being 40 pages, and that’s with images and a generous design. (Still, though, it probably takes 20-30 minutes to read.)

Christina Katz: How many folks helped you with the e-book production process and what roles did they play?

Jane Friedman: The only help I needed was editing. I had two very good friends—who I later treated to a celebratory launch-day dinner!—help me with the content development, punch lines, and line editing. I did the design and production work myself, which was not difficult. I’ve been doing that kind of work for 15 years.

Christina Katz: Can you give us a quick thumbnail overview of the phases you had to take the e-book through to go from zero to published in just a couple of short months?

Jane Friedman: This is how I’d describe the stages:

• Inspiration and planning stage. I came up with the structure and started outlining what I would write.
• Draft stage. In one sitting, I wrote the entire work longhand. (Not typical for me, but that’s how it worked out.)
• Revision stage. When I typed out my longhand manuscript, I also revised and added content as I went.
• Editing stage. I sent my manuscript to two trusted friends (who are also editors, yay!), who turned it around in less than a week.
• Production stage. While my friends edited the manuscript, I set up the design templates and created the front and back matter. I also created the images at this stage.
• Final production stage. After I had all the edits back, I incorporated them into the final manuscript, dumped the copy into my design template, and took care of all layout/design issues. Then I proofread a printed copy with a friend in one evening, made final corrections in the file, and outputted a PDF that I made available for sale within minutes on Scribd.

Christina Katz: Which part of the e-book creation process was your favorite? Which part was your least favorite?

Jane Friedman: The transition from production stage to final production stage was nerve-wracking. I had a deadline to meet that wasn’t negotiable in my mind (April Fool’s Day), but I was depending on the good graces of my friends to serve as editors (for free), and I was reluctant to start selling without their feedback. Lucky for me, they finished up in time to go live April 1.

My favorite part—as it is with every project—was the idea generation stage. I love coming up with the premise and structure. Ideas are always lovely. Once you make them concrete, you have to struggle through making them live up to the ideal that’s in your head.

Christina Katz: You are pretty tech-savvy, which technologies did you make use of to create the e-book and how user-friendly were they?

Jane Friedman: I used Adobe InDesign to design and layout the book, and to export the PDF file. InDesign is a program that I used for many years while working in traditional publishing, so there was no learning curve. But it’s expensive software for a writer to buy, and not easy to learn without formal instruction.

I used no other technology to create the e-book, aside from taking pictures with my iPhone and adjusting them in Apple’s Preview, a very elementary photo-editing software.

Christina Katz: Any pros vs. cons to approaching the short-form e-book vs. the long-form book? Which do you think you prefer?

Jane Friedman: I don’t think I prefer either at this point, speaking as an author.

However …

Projects that extend over a period of many months or years do have a tendency to get boring for me. It’s probably why I’ve stuck with blogging for so long. It’s fast-paced, there’s lots of fun and value in it, it gives me a writing outlet, but I don’t have to keep revisiting the same material again and again. I get to vary the topics/issues and suit some of my own whims.

On the other hand, I like building things of solid quality and substance. And a long-form book does that. So I still look forward to those projects as well—it just requires me to be disciplined and passionate about what I take on.

Christina Katz: Are you hooked? Will you write more e-books? Or will you be too busy following through with this one for a while?

Jane Friedman: This e-book project gave me a tight deadline, and it kept my interest. And while I’ll spend a bit more time nurturing it—producing a Kindle edition, for instance—I consider myself through.

I am indeed considering what new e-book project might be next. I’m sure I’ll attempt another, but something more information-driven—not humor or speculation.

Probably the No. 1 topic that I’m asked about is online and social media. So perhaps I’ll do a full-length e-book addressing that. That said, if I’m contracted to write a long-form book for Writer’s Digest, all bets are off.

Jane’s Bio:

As the former publisher and editorial director of Writer’s Digest, Jane Friedman is an industry authority on commercial, literary, and emerging forms of publishing. She has spoken at more than 200 writing events since 2001, and is known within the publishing industry as an innovator, cited by sources such as Publishers Weekly, GalleyCat, PBS, and Mr. Media. She has been a speaker at BookExpo America, an adviser to Digital Book World, and recently served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, to review 2011 grants in literature.

You heard it here first, if you didn’t know it already.

Former publisher and editorial director of Writer’s Digest and current visiting professor of e-media at The University of Cincinnati, Jane Friedman, knows more about publishing than your average industry authority.

I first met Jane in 2005 at the Willamette Writers Conference. I was there to wow her with my verbal book pitch, which I stood up and gave to her and a panel of industry gatekeepers the way most writers do, with my hands shaking and my pulse racing.

And on that fateful day a book (Writer Mama—the title was Jane’s idea and ten times better than the title I pitched) was born. But more importantly, a friendship commenced.

Over the past five and a half years, I have never ceased to be amazed by the depth and thoughtfulness of Jane’s intelligence and perceptiveness. She has taught me a great deal about publishing, more in fact, than I ever intended to learn over these years.

At some point, it occurred to me that more people should really be listening to her insights and heeding her wisdom. So, I did what any friend would do: I dared her to write this e-book.

Secretly and, I suppose, not so secretly, I wanted everyone who didn’t already know how informed Jane is to get a demonstration of the wit and wisdom that I have been benefiting from all of these years.

And so, Jane took me up on it. She wrote “The Future Of Publishing: Enigma Variations” in record time, with a little help from some of her friends, and putting much of her own advice for writers into action.

I think you will be amazed, entertained, and possibly even enchanted when you read it. And now, I hope, you can consider yourself (almost) as lucky as I have been all of these years.

Here’s a little taste of what you can expect from the e-book:

Christina Katz: Is the future of publishing bleak? Go ahead and tell us. We can take it.

Jane Friedman: The future of paper-book publishing is bleak. Paper books will become talismans, souvenirs, collectors’ items, or something that “paper sniffers” will insist on buying. I don’t buy into all the sentimentalism for paper books, but there will be a cabal of those types—just enough people to ensure that paper books are an enthusiast or niche product, much like vinyl.

The future of writing, reading, and literacy is bright. But it won’t necessarily take the shape YOU want it to. Many people have idealized fantasies about long-form reading and the experience of deep immersion in a book. That’s not dying, but times are changing. We’re becoming a more visual, interactive culture.

Christina Katz: Are there going to be any big money makers in the future of publishing? How about big money losers?

Jane Friedman: There will be far more losers, particularly in the form of start-ups and other new media ventures related to tech trends as well as new models of publishing—everything from e-book and e-publishing distribution services to multimedia apps to community publishing and editing sites.

Anyone whose business is driven solely by selling print books should be nervous, except for antiquarian booksellers. I don’t buy the argument that indie bookstores can now flourish with Borders out of the way—or that Google eBookstore affiliate sales will save them.

Money makers? Apple, Amazon, and Google.

Christina Katz: What demographic group within publishing folks is going to have the easiest time adapting to the future? Which group is going to have the hardest time?

Jane Friedman: Frankly, I haven’t seen any demographic that is adapting more quickly or more easily than others. Part of the problem is that anyone working at a “legacy” publisher or agency is tied into working for and saving (to some extent) that legacy structure and business. They’re not positioned well to adapt while working within the demands of that business. People who are able to work outside of it, with models that aren’t dependent on keeping legacy profit margins and revenue models intact, will have an easier time adapting. Read this post that explains the big-picture theory behind this; it’s brilliant.

Christina Katz: Have we reached a tipping point in publishing yet, or is there still a big tipping point yet to come? Can you imagine what will cause it?

Jane Friedman: Some think we reached a tipping point when Barry Eisler turned down a $500K deal from his publisher because he anticipates making more money over the course of his career by self-publishing electronically through Kindle.

It’s not a tipping point, exactly, but it’s a huge wake-up call for established authors. Those who are dissatisfied with their editor and/or agent relationships will more seriously consider abandoning their legacy deals.

The real tipping point is when e-books reach a majority of book sales. No one agrees when this will happen, and some argue that it will happen only within a certain category or genre of books. I do believe that certain genres (e.g., romance, mystery/thriller, science fiction/fantasy) will get to that tipping point first. And, yes, it will probably take longer for the literary work to follow—but not that long.

Christina Katz: You worked for over a decade as an editor and a publisher for Writer’s Digest, and you are also a writer, and now a blogger, professor, and social media maven. So which team are you on? Where do your sympathies lie? Or is the whole idea of “teams” becoming obsolete?

Jane Friedman: I’m not on anyone’s team. I prefer to look at the situation from all perspectives. While I am progressive in my own approach to my career and platform, and advocate that authors use every tool at their disposal to advance their careers, I also empathize with people who don’t want to see the industry change, and have no love for new media. There’s room for all people in the future of publishing, and if you’re the kind of person who wants to only write and publish PAPER books, by god, you’ll be able to find publishing partners and an audience who are OK with that. That’s the magical thing about the world we live in. All the eccentrics can very easily find each other and commune.

That’s why I don’t think the idea of “teams” will ever become obsolete, since that’s part of human nature, and how we all work. But who or what an “author” is, or what defines them—that’s changing.

Christina Katz: Do you believe, as I have heard whispered around the Internet most recently by Russell Jones at O’Reilly Media, that publishers are going to shift from imposing process on to authors to offering services to authors? What does this mean? It’s hard to imagine what this might look like.

Jane Friedman: I read the thread, and I don’t understand why the process they’re describing would be best served up by a traditional publisher—or even if it could be a viable business model.

If an author wants to work with someone who will really be a partner in making their book the best possible book it can be, I’d argue that person is probably an independent contractor—OR we’re looking at a very different kind of company that provides those services, with a different value proposition and business model, than today’s traditional publishers. (I’m thinking of a company like Amazon or Google, or others that have yet to be created.)

The discussion cited above is taking place among people who work within a publishing company. Granted, it’s probably one of the most critical thinking and progressive set of publishing people anywhere in the world, and O’Reilly does more things than just publish books (they do events, online education, etc), but it’s hard to work in that environment and say, “Whelp! Guess we’re not of value any more!” They come close to saying that, to some extent, and that’s where I agree most with their conversation. And it’s why publishers feel anxious. I don’t think publishers will vanish, but there will be a winnowing.

Christina Katz: Should rising writers attempt to self-publish their way to a traditional book deal? Or can this strategy still be held against them by publishing insiders? Or is previously sold content less appealing to traditional publishers?

Jane Friedman: Any publishing insider who continues to look down their nose at self-publishing, especially considering recent news, baffles me. Who are these people? Do they still exist?

Previously sold content is NOT less appealing to traditional publishers. If agents or editors see money in your work, they will want it. Hello, Amanda Hocking? She was a bestselling self-published author. Did that turn off the agent, editor, and publisher who paid her millions? No, they saw even MORE money to be made on her work than what she was able to collect on her own. And that’s the case with just about every self-publishing author who finds success.

Christina Katz: Do you think the day will come when rising writers will turn down traditional book deals because they are doing so well on their own or with publishing teams of their own creation? (Not like Joe Konrath, I am referring to non-traditionally published authors, meaning self-published authors.)

Jane Friedman: Yes, that day is coming. It is already happening. It has the potential to hurt publishers if authors are regularly partnering with companies that work as competitors to publishers, e.g., Amazon. Amazon IS working as a publisher, essentially.

If the traditional publisher is seen as a middleman who provides no value to the editorial, design, or marketing process, then how will publishers attract either rising writers or traditionally published ones who would like to pocket more money, or have more control? Everyone complains that traditional houses don’t edit or market any more. So what do they provide an author who doesn’t want, need, or care about their stamp of approval? Some authors will continue to want that, for sure, but how many will need it?

Thanks for purchasing a copy a of “The Future of Publishing: Enigma Variations” on April Fool’s Day. It may just end up being one of the most whimsical and profound things you ever read on the full systems change going on in the publishing industry right now. Let me know if you like it.

Order Info: Visit Jane’s Website to order the e-book

Jane’s Bio:

As the former publisher and editorial director of Writer’s Digest, Jane Friedman is an industry authority on commercial, literary, and emerging forms of publishing. She has spoken at more than 200 writing events since 2001, and is known within the publishing industry as an innovator, cited by sources such as Publishers Weekly, GalleyCat, PBS, and Mr. Media. She has been a speaker at BookExpo America, an adviser to Digital Book World, and recently served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, to review 2011 grants in literature.

If you are an adoptive parent or know any adoptive parents, I hope you will direct them to the wisdom of Judy M. Miller. When it comes to how to address the challenges of adoptive parenting, Judy brings just the right combination of practical advice and heart. Take a look for yourself and see.

Judy M. Miller is an adoptive parent and adoption advocate living in the Midwest with her husband and four children. She has mentored prospective adoptive and adoptive parents for over a decade about adoption—its joys and issues. She is a member of Adoption Voices (moderating a group for parents of tween and teen adoptees), AdoptionParenting, AdoptionParentingTweens, Families with Children from China, and Our Chinese Daughters Foundation.

Judy is a columnist for the adoption network, Grown in My Heart. Her essays and articles appear in adoption and parenting magazines. Judy’s stories are featured in A Cup of Comfort for Adoptive Families (Adams Media), Pieces of Me: Who Do I Want to Be? (EMK Press), and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Mom (Chicken Soup for the Soul). She recently presented on “Finding Our Stories Online” at Story Circle Network’s Stories of the Heart. Judy facilitates classes for adoptive parents of tweens and teens at Parenting Your Adopted Child: Tweens, Teens and Beyond.

What prompted you to create a class on parenting adopted children?

I was moved to create Parenting Your Adopted Child: Tweens, Teens & Beyond for several reasons, but the main reason was that many parenting classes target waiting parents or parents who have recently adopted infants and young children.  There are few classes for adoptive parents of kids entering tweens and teens.

I created Parenting Your Adopted Child: Tweens, Teens & Beyond because I observed the hunger adoptive parents have to connect and share with other adoptive parents. I know from personal experience that this hunger to connect with other adoptive parents never goes away and is especially needed when parenting is most challenging—before and during adolescence.

I also found that as I became a more experienced adoptive parent, I had countless requests for my “expertise” for over a decade and fell into a mentoring role for other adoptive parents and parents beginning the adoption process. I believe we glean the most from our own tribe, from collective experiences as adoptive parents, adoptees, and birth parents. Parenting Your Adopted Child: Tweens, Teens & Beyond was created in this spirit.

Why teens and tweens? Why not parenting young adopted children or school-age adopted children?

Issues inherent in adoption typically begin to surface when the child realizes they are becoming independent from their parents. Questions many parents assumed had been addressed when their child was younger often resurface. Most adoptive parents aren’t aware of this or prepared for it. Parenting Your Adopted Child: Tweens, Teens & Beyond is a class that helps the adoptive parent navigate these parental challenges, which are compounded by the complexities of adoption. I often say that parenting is not adoptive parenting. Parenting adopted children is adoptive parenting—more is required of the adoptive parent in parenting the adopted child.

Who would be helped by your class the most?

Parenting Your Adopted Child: Tweens, Teens & Beyond is for parents who have children between the ages 6 and 18. During these years kids begin to understand what they have gained and lost by being adopted. Parents find themselves challenges with a lot of questions as in “Why did my birth mother give me up?”, “What did I do to be given up?” and “Why did you adopt me?”

I even have one parent, who is considering taking the class now, even though both of her children are under the age of five. This parent wants to be proactive, prepared as much as she can be. She sees this class as the next step in parenting her adopted children. I think it’s always a good idea to be as informed and prepared as you can be as an adoptive parent.

Aren’t there already ample resources available on this topic?

Wonderful books, articles and resources are on parenting adopted teens are available, but reading takes time and digesting the facts takes even more. Many adoptive parents don’t have the benefit of having the “conversations” with other adoptive parents, who best understand what they and their child are experiencing. There are a few online classes for adoptive parents of adolescents, with little, if any, interaction with the other adoptive parents in the group. And, of course, there are online forums, but discussions there tend to go off on tangents and are not private.

Although I have a library of resources to draw from, my preference has always been to connect with others in the adoption community—adoptive parents, well-seasoned adoptive parents, and older adoptees for insight and perspective. So, I’ve created an e-mail class that offers the benefits of all the resources, my experiences parenting four kids, and the wisdom of the group.

If someone has never taken an e-class before, can you explain what they can expect in terms of their time commitment to the class?

I send course material out weekly via Microsoft Word Document. The workbooks cover different topics related to parenting the adopted tween/teen. The beauty of the class is that participants meet each other virtually through the class introduction and sharing of weekly class work. Participating parents do weekly assignment at their convenience, when it fits into their busy life. The weekly time commitment is only a couple of hours per week but, of course, the parents can reflect on what they are learning and discussing as much as they like. The class lasts six weeks and the class materials can be referred back to as needed in the future.

The next Parenting Your Adopted Child: Tweens, Teens & Beyond begins April 7^th. Class is limited to 12 participants. Parents can find out more and register here.