|
Between the age of 12 to 24 months, children begin to say their first
words. By age 24 months, normally developing children are expected
to produce a minimum of 50 words and to put 2 or more words together in
simple phrases. Children raised in orphanages rarely meet these
developmental milestones. Parents should not be surprised to learn
that their 18 to 20 month old child hasn't begun to talk. As discussed in the Orphanage
Care section of this web site, unlike spoken language
abilities, nonverbal social interactions appear to be less affected by the
orphanage environment. Parents of children under 24 months of age
should focus closely on nonverbal social interaction skills. As
children reach age 30 months, some words should begin to emerge. A
child who is not talking at all by 2-1/2 years of age may have additional
factors suppressing language development that need to be
considered.
If videotapes of the child are available, or parents are able to meet
the child, then questions should be supplemented with observations. Children at this age typically do
not interact well with strangers or in new situations. (My own two
adopted toddlers followed this scenario. During our first
interactions, one sat stone-still in my lap like a passive lump, the other
screamed every time we came near). Children this age should
be videotaped interacting with an adult caregiver whom they know well in a
room they know best. Parents meeting children for the first
time should later ask to watch the child interacting with well-known adult
caregivers, also in a room that is familiar to the child. Luckily
for my children, we had previously seen videotapes of them interacting
with familiar adult caregivers and knew their reactions to us were based on the
fact that we were total strangers. In addition to being with
familiar caregivers in a familiar room, children tend to talk more when
playing with toys or objects that are familiar. When children this
age are introduced to new toys they tend to spend most of their time
exploring what the toy will do, and spend less time interacting with
others. Therefore children should be observed or videotaped
playing with toys or objects that they know.
The next section lists questions for adoptive parents to ask or skills
to observe. The lists have been divided into 6 month age
groupings for children 12-18 months, 19-24 months, and 24-30 months.
Listed skills are based on several sources including Rosetti (1990),
Wetherby and Prizant (2002), and Glennen and Masters (2002).
CHILDREN 12 TO 18 MONTHS OF AGE
 | Eyegaze and Facial Expressions
 | Does the child make frequent eye contact with adults during
interactions? |
| Does the child show signs of enjoying interactions with a
familiar adult, especially when eye contact is made? |
| When another person begins to talk, does the child turn to look
towards the new voice? |
| Does the child make 3-point gaze shifts by looking at
a toy in hand, then at an adult, then back to the toy? |
| If more people are in the room, does the child make 4-point gaze
shifts by looking from a toy in hand to one person, then the
other, then back to the toy? |
|
| Reaching and Gestures
| Does the child show objects in hand to an adult (without
actually giving them)? |
| Does the child push away items that aren't wanted? |
| Does the child engage in give and take games when holding
objects with an adult? |
| Does the child imitate simple gestures such as clapping hands or
waving bye-bye? |
| Will the child hand an object to an adult to ask for help with
it? |
| For children closer to 18 months, does the child shake his or her head "no?" |
|
| Play with Objects
| Does the child attempt to actively explore toys? For example,
does the child push or spin parts of toys, turn toys over, roll
them back and forth, etc.? |
| Does the child repeat interesting actions with toys? For
example, if the child makes a toy produce an unusual noise, does
he attempt to make the noise again? |
| Can the child imitate simple play activities? For example,
if an adult bangs two blocks together, will the child try to
imitate? |
| Does the child know what to do with objects used on a daily
basis? For example,
when given a spoon or cup does the child attempt to feed
himself? When putting on clothes does the child begin
to lift his arms in anticipation of a shirt going on? |
|
| Language Comprehension
| Does the child turn when his or her name is called? (This skill is often delayed in children raised
in groups because it takes longer for children to sort out which
name is theirs). |
| Does the child momentarily stop what he is doing if an adult says "no" in a firm
voice? |
| Does the child follow simple commands
such as "sit down" or "come here" without
adding gestures to the commands? |
| Can the child identify 2-3 common everyday objects or body parts
when asked "Where is _____?" (Make sure the child
has frequently seen the items on a daily basis, for example: 'shoes, cup,
spoon'. Don't use items such as a 'ball' if the child has
rarely played with one). |
|
| Spoken Language Production
| Of all areas of language development, this will most likely be
delayed in children raised in orphanages. Children raised in orphanages will probably not be using words by this
age. |
| Does the child vocalize communicatively to get attention, to ask
for help, to ask for a toy or food? |
| Does the child vocalize in response to an adult's talking? |
| Does the child stop vocalizing when an adult is talking? |
| Does the child try to imitate adult words or vocalizations? |
| Are several different consonant sounds heard during
vocalizations? |
| For children who are using gestures, does the child pair vocalizations with
gesture attempts? |
| Does the child look at an adult when vocalizing to communicate? |
|
| Oral Motor and Feeding Abilities
| Does the child eat from a spoon?
When eating, does the child's lips close around the spoon to clear
the food? |
| Does the child eat and enjoy foods with
soft textures that don't require chewing? (oatmeal, kasha, yogurt,
mashed potatoes) |
| Does the child eat and enjoy foods that
require a little chewing such as soft cookies, overcooked pasta,
rice or bananas? |
| For children closer to 18 months, does the child try foods that require more
chewing such as bread, cheese, or soft meats such as sausage? |
| When sitting at rest, does the child keep
his mouth closed or is the mouth frequently open? If the
child has a cold or allergies, the mouth needs to be open to allow
the child to breathe and the child will drool more than
normal. If the child doesn't have allergies or a cold, the
mouth should be closed most of the time. |
|
CHILDREN 19 TO 24 MONTHS OF AGE
Children this age should do most of the
items listed above, and the following.
| Eyegaze and Facial Expressions
| If an adult points to an item across the room and says
"look" does the child follow the adult's point to see
what is being pointed to? |
|
| Reaching and Gestures
| Does the child point with a finger to communicate? |
| Does the child use a variety of gestures to communicate? |
| Does the child consistently vocalize when producing gestures? |
| Does the child wave "hello" or "bye-bye?" |
| Does the child take an adult by the hand and lead them to
things? |
|
| Play with Objects
| Does the child attempt simple pretend play actions
such as stirring spoons in cups, pretending to eat, or pretending
to clean up? |
|
| Language Comprehension
| Does the child appear to understand 50 or more words? |
| Can the child point to body parts when asked "Where is your
eyes, nose, mouth?" |
| As the child nears 24 months, can the child follow a 2-object command such as "Give me
the block and spoon?" |
|
| Spoken Language Production
| Is the child attempting to say any words? |
| Does the child attempt to imitate words such as
"bye-bye?" |
|
| Oral Motor and Feeding Abilities
| Does the child feed him or herself? |
| Does the child readily eat and enjoy foods
that require some chewing such as bread, sausage, or cheese? |
|
CHILDREN 24 TO 30 MONTHS OF AGE
Children this age should do most of the items listed above plus the
following.
| Reaching and Gestures
| Does the child shake his head to indicate yes and no? |
|
| Play with Objects
| Does the child attempt 2 and 3 part sequences of pretend
play? For example, can the child stir a spoon in a teapot,
pour tea into a cup, then pretend to drink the tea? |
|
| Language Comprehension
| Does the child appear to understand most simple sentences and
commands? |
| Can the child identify a variety of objects in the room and body
parts? |
| Can the child follow a command that requires getting objects out
of sight? For example if asked to "go get your
shoes" can the child go to another room and bring them back? |
|
| Spoken Language Production
| Can the child say 10 or more words? |
| Is the child beginning to put 2 or more words together into
phrases? |
| Ask for examples of the child's 3 longest sentences. Write
them down with translations. |
| If the child is putting 3-4 words together into sentences, is
the child adding any grammatical markers such as verb tense,
plurals, or articles? (Realize that different languages vary widely in
the difficulty of using various parts of grammar. Something
that is easy in English may be difficult in the native language
and vice versa). |
|
| Oral Motor and Feeding Abilities
| Can the child self-feed from a regular cup
without difficulty? |
|
|
