I’d like to offer a big thank you to all of our readers…our team at Key Ministry very much appreciates your willingness to share our blog posts throughout 2013 with others interested in the things we care about. We also appreciate your comments and your feedback.

We have lots of new friends who haven’t been with us for the entire year, and friends who follow the blog through the Key Ministry Facebook page who may only see a small percentage of the content we post. In the event you may have missed something that was quite popular among your fellow readers, here are the ten most viewed posts of 2013…

#1. DSM-5: Rethinking Reactive Attachment Disorder

In the DSM-5, the conceptualization of the causes of  the severely disruptive behavior commonly observed among children in foster care, as well as children adopted from orphanages changed dramatically. The effects of trauma and neglect upon brain development combined with genetic and environmental influences appear to be responsible for the behaviors traditionally associated with RAD…as opposed to a primary attachment disorder.

#2. Special Needs and Divorce…What Does the Data Say?

While experience suggests that families of kids with ASDs very much need purposeful and intentional outreach and support from a local church, this may be even more true in families of kids with psychiatric conditions. A review of the literature suggests that divorce rates may be higher among parents of children with mental illness, compared to families in which a child has an autism spectrum disorder or Down Syndrome. This was our most popular post in 2011 and 2012.

#3. Asperger’s Disorder and Spiritual Development

This page contains the complete content of a blog series presented in the Spring of 2012 with the assistance of Mike Woods from the Special Friends Ministry at First Baptist Orlando.  It also contains a video produced by Key Ministry for the 2012 Children’s Ministry Websummit.

#4. Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder…A Necessary Response to the “Bipolar” Epidemic

This post examined the controversial new diagnostic label in the DSM-5 resulting from research conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health with kids who presented with irritability as their predominant mood state and severe difficulties with emotional and behavioral self-regulation. Many of these children were (incorrectly) diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and exposed to treatment with antipsychotic medications associated with potentially serious side effects.

#5. Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder

A subgroup of children in studies of Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) was observed to demonstrate indiscriminately social behavior-inappropriately approaching unfamiliar adults and a lack of concern for strangers… in some instances, a willingness to wander away with strangers. They may also exhibit a lack of ability to maintain an appropriate sense of body space, and disinhibition of behavior. This post looks at the new diagnostic category in the DSM-5 describing the majority of children traditionally labeled with RAD.

#6. Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder…Not Quite Asperger’s

The committee responsible for the DSM-5 felt the need to establish a diagnostic category to help facilitate the ability of persons struggling with social communication (but fail to meet the full criteria for an autism spectrum disorder) to access treatment. This post examined the new diagnostic category for kids who look like those with Asperger’s Disorder, but don’t meet full criteria for an autism spectrum disorder.

#7. Why After All the Hard Did You Choose Hard Again? Guest Blogger Matt Mooney

Matt Mooney is a very talented writer and storyteller. He authored a book in 2013, A Story Unfinished, about the remarkable journey he and his wife Ginny experienced with their son, Eliot, who lived for 99 days with a genetic disease (Trisomy 18) that made his birth unlikely. In this guest post for Father’s Day, 2013, Matt answered the question of how  God might use Eliot’s unfinished story to bless other families of children with disabilities.

#8. Mental Illness Can Kill…Even in the Best of Families

In April of 2013, Rick and Kay Warren experienced the tragic suicide of their young adult son, Matthew. This post looks at how leaders in the disability ministry movement might honor Matthew’s memory through radically expanding our efforts to reach out to and share the Gospel with kids, teens and young adults impacted by mental illness and their families.

#9. Oppositional Defiant Disorder…A Description or a Diagnosis?

This post presented an examination of the recently updated DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Mental health professionals working with kids and families are frequently asked to intervene when children exhibit chronically angry or disrespectful behavior. The causes of this behavior are often complex, but typically are grounded in  predispositions described as disinhibition/constraint and negative emotionality in the DSM-5.

#10. The Unchurched…Churches Don’t Welcome People With Mental Illness

Ed Stetzer and the crew at Lifeway Research released data this past September from a research project intended to help churches best minister to persons with mental illness. This post examined some of the preliminary data from Lifeway’s research, and challenged the local church to more effectively reach out to, and include families impacted by mental illness.

Some photos courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

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Can you help us to help churches pursue kids with disabilities and their families? For this year’s Key Ministry Online Campaign, we’re asking our friends not for money, but to share our Facebook page with others who share interest in our mission. We’re nearly 60% of the way to our goal of 5,000 “likes”! Here’s more on how you can help.