Dr. Boris Gindis and the BG Center for Cognitive-Developmental Assessment and Remediation

The PASE team is hoping to provide all of our adoptive families with resources that will support and educate you about the often challenging decisions around school placement and readiness. It is with that intention that we introduce (or re-introduce as the case may be) the BG Center For Cognitive- Developmental Assessment and Remediation http://www.bgcenter.com. The chief psychologist at the center, Dr. Boris Gindis, and his staff provide a wide variety of psychological services to internationally adopted children and their families. A particular area of expertise the center offers is consultation, assessment and education for families struggling with the many questions and decisions in this often emotionally charged area. Their website offers numerous articles on many aspects of adoption and child development as well as an online school for parents and professionals that highlights the language, developmental and educational needs of internationally adopted children. We invite you to visit the BG Center website.

Is Your Internationally Adopted Child Ready for School?

SCHOOL READINESS & PLACEMENT
Have you found yourself wondering about the appropriate grade placement for your internationally adopted child? This question is common and at times not easily answered. Typical factors of chronological age, language and social and emotional development are further multiplied with an internationally adopted child. Birth country experiences and lack of exposure to formal education can impact the competencies expected in the US education system. Even though international adoption has existed in the US for several decades, schools have not yet caught up with the specifics and may even have incorrect ideas. Navigating and advocating for your child will necessitate an awareness of options and the obligations your child's school must provide.

Recommended Reading

School Readiness and School Placement of a Newly Adopted Post-institutionalized Child

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Families often times are amazed at how quickly their newly adopted child will pick up English. However, parents need to realize that language acquisition for these children is not the same as it is for children who emigrated from another country with their families. Children who were adopted internationally are losing their native language as quickly as they are learning English. This oftentimes leaves gaps in communication that can be frustrating for both the children as well as their parents. This can become even more complicated when children are placed into schools and cannot comprehend some of the tasks asked of them.

Is Your School Ready for Your Internationally Adopted Child?

ESL/ELL IN SCHOOLS
Families often believe that schools have the resources necessary to aid their child in learning English because their child is enrolled in the English as a Second Language class, more commonly referred in schools today as English Language Learners (ELL). However, these classes were basically built upon the assumption that the children involved are recent immigrants not adoptees. The classes often postulate that the parents at home do not speak English, so homework is not given and families are not asked to do exercises with their children to help their language development. If the ELL teachers at the school are not familiar with children who are international adoptees and the way their language acquisition occurs, there classes may not be as helpful as a private tutor.

Recommended Reading

Internationally adopted post-institutionalized students in an ESL class

What should adoptive parents know about their children's language-based school difficulties

SCHOOL RELATED ISSUES
Many children have issues in school, whether they are behavior issues or developmental issues. However, being an internationally adopted child can lend to different issues that may present in a typical fashion of behavior outbursts, problems with peers or not living up to the potential that teachers believe a child possesses. Children who were adopted may have underlying developmental delays due to institutionalization or they may not be able to comprehend the instructions given to them because their language acquisition is still lagging behind their peers. Children who are being schooled in orphanages in other countries are not usually held to the same standards that children in schools in America are held to. Often being given a written exam is something they have never encountered before and may not be prepared to take. It is important for adoptive parents to prepare their child's teacher for the fact their child may not be up to par with children of the same age due to language development, developmental delays and educational gaps. Dr. Gindis and his colleagues have written several articles not only about issues that internationally adopted children face in school, but also about advocating for you child in school and also where research needs to be focused in the future.

Recommended Reading

Cognitive, Language and Educational Issues of Children Adopted from Overseas Orphanages