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Children adopted internationally come from a variety of countries.  Each country has different procedures regarding the amount and timing of medical and development information shared with prospective parents.  Some countries provide relatively little information.  Parents are lucky to get a photo and a few sentences about the child.  Other countries provide extensive medical and developmental information with videotapes of the child.  Most countries are somewhere in-between the two extremes.  Some Eastern European countries require parents to travel to the country to meet children before medical and developmental information is released.  In some situations, parents are taken to see several children, then expected to select a child.  

Child Talking on Phone
Depending on the country,  parents will be at different stages of the process when developmental questions about language abilities can be asked.   Some parents will be able to obtain the information during the pre-adoption process, others may not be able to ask these questions until they have met the child and are completing the adoption.  Regardless of the timing, parents should make every attempt to get information on their child's development, including language.  The following sections outline questions to ask about language development and language abilities to look for.  

Pre-Adoption Questions For Parents
Infants Under 12 Months Toddlers 12-30 Months Older Children

Towson University
Sharon Glennen, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences & Disorders
Towson University
Towson, MD 21252
Last Modified 7/20/02