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NATHHAN
Resources for Families with Special Needs Children
Porthill, Idaho
Tom and Sherry Bushnell, Founders
208-267-6246
nathanews@aol.com
www.nathhan.com
By Kathy Nussberger
kathy@woodbury.com
Tom and Sherry Bushnell of Porthill, ID believe it is their
mission to help other parents dealing with the issues of raising
children with disabilities. So in 1990, the Bushnell's founded
NATHHAN (National Challenged Home-schoolers Associated Network),
to provide a central source of information and support to
the 15,000 families in their network. They offer several
unique resources to parents raising children with special
needs. According to Tom, NATHHAN means "Gift From God."
With two adoptive children suffering from Reactive Attachment
Disorder and a third child born with Downs Syndrome, the Bushnell's
wanted to help other parents like themselves who were often
misjudged by members of their church, family, friends and
community. The Bushnells' adopted four children with special
needs and have eight birth children.
"We have a heart for special needs children," Sherry
said. "In our network, we have a lot of parents who are
willing to talk with new parents of special needs children
and let them know they are not alone or crazy. We understand
how people from your church, friends and family may not understand
what is going on with your child. They can misjudge you, your
motives and your child, who often knows how to play other
people like a fiddle. We understand, we want to help develop
a support network of families that understand what you are
going through and can help you get through some of the tough
times, rather then being surrounded by people who don't understand
and will judge you."
Even with children suffering from Reactive Attachment Disorder,
a lot can be done when people work together.
"We can set up staged social meetings where the child
is the only one who doesn't know it's staged," Tom explained.
"The rest of us understand Reactive Attachment Disorder,
and when the child comes up to play us, we let the child know
that they can't get hugs because we are strangers. We encourage
the child to go to his/her mother or father if he/she wants
hugs, and when that happens on a steady basis, the child begins
to learn that hugging strangers is not acceptable behavior.
These children are damaged; and telling the parents how bad
they are at parenting is not going to help anyone."
" NATHHAN is the home schooling aspect of our foundation,
Christian Homes and Special Kids (CHASK) that serves over
15,000 families across the US who are raising and privately
educating special needs children," Tom explained. “These
families are caring for children with every type of disability
ranging from mild to extremely severe. Our magazine “NATHHAN
News,” is published twice a year and it goes out to all 15,000
families.” Other books published by NATHHAN include Christian
Homes and Special Kids (CHASK) and two speech therapy manuals
for parents who want to do speech therapy at home.
In addition to the magazine, NATHHAN has a lending library
with about 700 titles, and operates through the mail, the
library, and a family phone book. A discussion board and articles
on over 40 different subjects are available on their website.
Subject areas include different disabilities and information
on occupational and speech therapy to help integrate special
needs children into the family's church.
"Our family phone book is accessible to those who are
listed," Tom said. "Almost 7,000 of our families
have adopted special needs children, and several of them range
between mild to quite severe Reactive Attachment Disorder.
We also encourage birth parents to raise their special needs
children, but for those who choose not to, we have over 300
families waiting to adopt." Tom explained that CHASK
tries to reach out to birth parents that have a baby with
special needs, and if the baby is not yet born, they encourage
parents to choose life for their child and help them find
the resources they need to raise their child.
"If they are not able to raise their child, then we step
in with a family who is willing to adopt," he said. "We
never charge a fee for helping either the birth family or
adoptive family make that special connection with the child.
Anyone can adopt through NATHHAN as long as they have a personal
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It does not matter
which denomination or church they belong too, that is not
an issue with us, the only question we ask is "Do they
love Jesus?" The Bushnell's, through the NATHHAN foundation,
will help any parent with a special needs child, regardless
of whether the child is theirs by birth or through adoption.
"We really want to help anyone who needs the help and
resources to keep their child," Tom said. "We do
think adoption is a great option for those who cannot raise
a special needs child, but we also want to provide resources
for those parents who want to raise their child. Through NATHHAN
and this network of 15,000 families who are already raising
special needs children, the chances are very high that we
have someone in any given area that is raising a special needs
child with a similar disability who is willing to help a new
family."
Tom said the network is open to anyone who needs it, but he
wants people to know his world view right up front. "I
am not going to do any baiting and switching, meaning that
we do not believe there is any such concept as being theologically
neutral or world view neutral. We want people to know that
our world view is from the Judea Christian beliefs, and although
some people try to hide their world view, it is not honest
because we all have one."
Sherry explained that when someone is interested in adopting
a child with a mild to severe disability, they are provided
with all of the information they need, including the network
of families, specifically those who have children with the
same disability.
"We do all of this before they adopt because we want
them to be fully aware of the situation and what to expect
from the adoption," Sherry said. "Our application
on the website allows adoptive parents to be very specific
about their choices of ages, race, disability, etc. When I
get a baby or child in the office, I go through those applications
and call the families who are the best match for the child.
I explain the situation and give them time to process it and
make sure it is a good time for them and their situation.
If they are still interested, I send a short biography of
the prospective family with a picture to the birth parents
as a way of introduction. Most of the time the adoptive family
pays the interstate compact and lawyer fees when the child
is coming from a different state. Sometimes, the birth parents
are so grateful to get help they pay some of the expenses."
Tom said they want all adoptive parents to be honest about
what types of disability they are comfortable with. “We like
to know what the prospective family is able to deal with because
we want to help both the child and the family succeed. We
don’t want to set anyone up for failure. One of the things
we try to do is keep the child within the state where they
reside when adopted. Although we charge no fees, adoptive
parents need to pay to have a home study done, which ranges
in cost between $800-$1500 and lawyer fees that vary widely.
We can help them find a lawyer, but we do not pay the fees.
NATHHAN is a non-profit organization that runs solely on donations.”
Another aspect of NATHHAN is a special fund, the "Already
Loved Fund," that is set up through donations to help
'hard to place' babies in life and death situations. "In
the past year, we had two babies born with just brain stem
function. They were left in the hospital to die, but with
the Already Loved Fund, we were able to bring in adoptive
parents and help pay the legal fees to get these children
into homes. Both babies had the necessary surgeries right
away. Although the Fund cannot cover medical expenses, most
of these children are covered under Medicaid, and the money
from the Fund is used to buy plane tickets and pay a lawyer's
retainer fee to get the child into their new family. We live
in a good society that doesn't just allow people to die, and
that is a good and very humane thing."
Other books published by NATHHAN include Christian Homes
and Special Kids and two speech therapy manuals for parents
who want to do speech therapy at home.
Copyright © 2005,
Woodbury Reports, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(This article may not be reproduced without written approval
of the publisher.)
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