Download Supporting development in internationally adopted children

CONSIDERATIONS IN
SERVICE DELIVERY TO
SPECIAL POPULATIONS
I. INTRODUCTION
Decreasing numbers of IAC in the U.S.**
In 2004, 23,000 children
In 2012, 8,668
In 2015, 5647
# adopted is about ¼ of
what it was
https://travel.state.gov/content/ado
ptionsabroad/en/aboutus/statistics.html 2017
Some top countries children adopted from:
Hwa-Froelich :
Youtube video clip
John Upton Discovers The Need of
Romanian Orphans
**Bulgaria’s Abandoned Children
II. BECOMING AN “ORPHAN”**
In home countries of IAC, usually found in orphanages
Some have parents who are dead
In many cases, however, parents put their children into
orphanages  cannot afford to feed them
Also, in some cases, parents are not married; great
disgrace in some countries, so the child is placed in an
orphanage
Kathleen Morris (Practical strategies for
therapists working with SI/SPD Disorders)**
Volunteered: Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian
orphanages
She has also worked for 17 years as the
founder and director of two SI clinics
I went to her workshop
According to Kathleen Morris:
(Morris)
Former student Marilyn Stansfield, (worked in
Romanian orphanage)
Marilyn also volunteered at a Romanian hospital
for abandoned babies…
Marilyn tried to feed a newbie from a
bottle…
III. ACCULTURATION ISSUES**
Frequently, IAC are abruptly taken out of their
familiar surroundings and placed into totally
new environments
This is especially hard on older IAC
They may miss the familiarity of surroundings
they have known all their lives
Used to interacting with other children, not
adults
IV. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS**
Possible post-traumatic stress syndrome
Consequent need for psychological services,
emotional support
Adoptive parents may need these services
also--feel overwhelmed
Other potential areas of concern include:
Hwa-Froelich—major parent concerns:
V. SPEECH AND LANGUAGE
CONSIDERATIONS**
Articulatory-phonological skills may be
negatively impacted by low oral muscle tone
Some IAC refuse to even chew, let alone speak
Again, dental/orthodontic needs may have
been neglected
We will remember the definition of
“language”**
A system of symbols that represents
concepts formed by exposure and
experience
With very limited exposure and experience,
some IAC may have very limited conceptual
foundations
A challenge for many IAC…
L1
IAC may have…**
Post-institutional Autistic
Syndrome
—experienced such abuse and
neglect that they exhibit autistic-like
behaviors—e.g., rocking, hair-pulling
Ellesef (Adoption and pragmatic problems.
ADVANCE for SLPs, December issue)
So we know from research that…**
The younger IAC are at the age of adoption,
the better their chances for developing
language normally
Those who show initial delays may still have
them later; we always need to test when the
children are newly adopted and follow up
VII. CONCLUSION**
SLPs are becoming increasingly involved in providing
services to IAC, especially on multidisciplinary teams
Remember, parents need support too!
Anecdotal evidence: pediatricians may tell adoptive
parents “wait and see”
Increasingly, this is being viewed as unacceptable;
currently, most experts recommend that adoptive
parents just assume that children will need additional
services and stimulation in all areas of development
When children are evaluated:
In terms of service delivery:
Again, remember that social-emotionalpragmatics problems needing tx may include:
Glennen, S. (2015). Internationally adopted
children in the early school years: Relative
strengths and weaknesses in language abilities.
Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in
Schools, 46, 1-13.**
IAC adopted between 1-4 years of age were
assessed at 5 and 6-7 years
Children were from Russia, Kazakhstan,
Hungary, and Romania (mostly Russia)
Glennen (2015) found:
Glennen, 2015—areas of weakness
were:
VIII. STUDENTS WITH AUGMENTATIVE/ALTERNATIVE
COMMUNICATION (AAC) NEEDS**
How comfortable are families with high-tech
devices?
If they are not, we might need to introduce lowtech devices or even boards with pictures
Researchers recommend: picture communication
systems printed both in L1 and English
IX. STUDENTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL
DELAYS**
We have to be careful, because ELL students
tend to be overidentified
Students with DD can still be bilingual!
Be careful about early intervention
recommendations, because parents may not
believe that early independence is important
Dixon & Zhao, 2017:
X. SERVICE DELIVERY TO CLD DEAF STUDENTS
Research has found great success…**
With classroom amplification
Studies: if a teacher uses an FM
system and students hear her
voice more loudly, they may
•
•
•
pay better attention
participate more in
discussions
learn new vocab words
faster
XI. STUDENTS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM
DISORDER**
Stoll, Tolentino, and RoseberryMcKibbin (CSHA) studied CLD
families with ASD children
These families believed in
mainstream causes of ASD and
also in mainstream treatment
(e.g., early intervention, dietary
modifications, etc.)
Challenges impacting service delivery
include: