Potato Group Conference
THE POTATO GROUP
Parents of Traumatised Adopted Teens Organisation
We Are
We are a UK based group of parents who have adopted our children from the care system in the past 20+ years.
By the time adopters join Potato we have served a long apprenticeship, understanding the histories and needs of our children, and reading and learning about attachment and developmental trauma.
We have learnt as we have gone along, not only managing the everyday difficulties that arise from parenting our children, but also difficulties with schools, our wider family, and other parents who may not understand our adoptees’ hidden disabilities.
Many of us will also have faced challenges from generic professionals in education, health, and social services, and from those specialising in adoption whether from CAMHS or from adoption support teams who may lack the depth and breadth of training in developmental trauma needed to support our families.
Buried in the nooks and crannies of social media, there are little, amazingly supportive communities. The authentic ones are not always easy to find but they exist. And when you get there and feel the comfort in knowing you're not alone, it's everything...
In The Media
BBC Victoria Derbyshire Programme
Talking about how Potato members often face crisis with their traumatised adopted young people and the professionals lack capacity to help.
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It emphasises how important POTATO group is to families in terms of support and expert knowledge having had many families having faced similar troubles in the past.
LBC Radio Interview
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This interview was with two members of our group (using alias to protect their family identities.)
Generally talking about some of the challenges many adoptive families face and the desperate need for relevant, robust support.
The lack of full disclosure from the local authority also features as does the love, warmth and sheer bloody minded fight to get what our traumatised adoptees need.