developmentally delayed

[saraandjania]

Can anyone share their experiences with adopting a SN boy/girl with developmental delays from China?

Thanks!
Clare

[Terry in OR]

I haven't adopted from China but can give some insight into developmentally delayed persons as that is my profession. DD is a very broad diagnosis. People with ADD, ADHD, Asperger's, and dyslexia come under that definition. It is not always a serious thing. Look at the specific medical terms used in the information given to you. Check with WebMD, a medical facility such as Oregon Health Sciences University, Children's Hospital in Seattle, a doctor or professional specializing in DD and/or international adoption doctors. A lot of adopted children have some developmental delay just due to institutionalization. Although, on the w/c list it will likely be more than that. If you get DQ information, look at each item across the board and compare those with the child's other diagnoses: Is s/he deaf? Has spina bifida? Do these factor into the DQ and is it reasonable that with further care the child's DD will resolve? I have a friend who has several adopted children. Her second son, on paper, looked typical and without any challenges at all. At about three years old that all changed and he has some significant issues. Her last child, on paper, looked very challenged and had some downright scary issues. Most of that resolve. Ask lots of questions and know what you can and cannot deal with. Also, prepare yourself for the worst possible scenario the child's diagnoses will present. This should help you in evaluating the child you're looking at. There are many wonderful people on the boards here who will be happy to help you as much as they are able. All the best to you!

[appa-baba-papa]

I wrote an article about our daughter Jenna a while back. We adopted her from China when she was 3 years, 2 months.

http://www.holtinternational.org/china/chinamoon/?p=662

http://sevenalltogether.blogspot.com/20 ... rgery.html

http://sevenalltogether.blogspot.com/20 ... -post.html

Jenna has developmental delays due to her cleft palate, many untreated ear infections which resulted damaged/poor hearing ability, of which all of this affects her speech. Jenna is now 7 years old but developmentally she is probably around age 5 or so. Her speech has improved over the years with therapy and sugeries, the next step is to try to improve her hearing with hearing aids. Growing up in an orphanage also was a factor with her in starting out developmentally behind.

Brett

[Panda Kisses]

We adopted our dauther at 14 months from China with Cleft Lip and Palate. She was not diagnosed with dd there, but once home was diagnosed right away. She was very neglected in the orphanage and at 14 months she could mostly hold her head up and grasp and object. Anything else was beyond her ability. She was 9 months old on her referral medical forms so I wasn't too concerned about the develpmental milestones as I figured with typical institutional delay it wasn't that big of a deal that she wasn't doing certain things. Upon meeting her, we knew she was very delayed. She started PT and OT right away to learn to sit up and eat solids. After a year of PT she managaed to sit, crawl and walk. She graduated from that. She did about another year of OT and also started speech about 9 months after coming home. Like Brett's daughter, she had many untreated ear infections in China and we have dealt with a lot of ear issues here. She is currently hearing impaired in one ear and seems to have some sort of motor planning dysfunction (apraxia) which makes both speaking and signing difficult. She wears a hearing aid and we use both speech and sign at home. She is in a hearing impaired preschool through the public school system. (I didn't even know this existed until she qualified)

She had been home for three years now and just had a bunch of evaluations done through the public school system for her IEP. She is still behind her peers in many areas and is keeping the developmental delay diagnosis.