Kids Who Outwit Adults

Almost finished reading the book. Very helpful in my job. It is easy to read, easy to follow, and moves along quickly.

Let me say upfront that like Antwone Fisher I am a product of the Cleveland child welfare system. We were in the sytem about the same time, and may have had some of the same caseworkers. Mr. Fisher and I appeared on a panel discussion on National Public Radio some time ago. I have great respect for him and am thrilled for his success with his movie and his book. I am so happy that the foster care sytem is being exposed for what it is due to Antwone efforts. As for me, I too, am a former youth at risk who beat the odds. I was removed from my mother's home at the age of eight and spent the remainder of my childhood and adolescence in multiple foster homes and group care settings. At least 15 in all; it was horrible and I was angry. Abused and neglected as a child, my journey though children's institutions and countless foster homes was a litany of degradation and humiliation. My unrestrained anger at my mother and the child welfare system led to a childhood of anger, loneliness and one where I fought with adults, counselors, teachers, house parents, childcare workers and anyone else who crossed my path. Still I believe that I had an indomitable sprit and in refusing to be vanquished, I did became strong at the broken places. I wrote Kids Who Outwit Adults to cause you to examine your own view of the children that you care for, and even your own view of yourself.I also wrote this book to provide insight into the foster care experience. I wanted to go simply beyond a sad story and an inspiring story to a story with solutions. In the spirit of solutions, I wrote this book to disclose the "private logic" behind the somethimes troubling behavior of kids' who have gone through the child welfare system. I discuss various ways to reach kids by weaving together what I hope is an effective, highly rewarding approach based on tried-and-true resilience models, insights from my years of experience, and kids' own heart-wrenching accounts. I identify the "internal strengths" and "external supports" kids need in order to break negative behavior patterns. Peace, Dr. John R. Seita