Language Delays in Guatemalan Born Children

It seems to me that an unusually high percentage of adopted children from Guatemala have language delays. I haven’t done a scientific study, but from talking with other parents and following posts on various websites, it seems that there is a pattern here.

A language delay is language development that is significantly below the norm for a child of a specified age. I pulled out my textbooks from my years as a student of linguistics and found interesting information. Jean Berko Gleason in her book “The Development of Language” says that:

“A large proportion of children who demonstrate language delay or disorder are not hearing impaired, cognitively impaired or autistic…Such children demonstrate language impairment as their single obvious developmental disability.”

Let’s take my dear daughter Ella for example. She is nineteen months old and has a very small vocabulary. Her receptive language (understanding) is outstanding and highly developed. She is obviously an intelligent little girl (not just her Mommy’s subjective opinion) and has learned sign language easily and with great pleasure. So what gives?

Some claim that since she switched languages, it is taking her longer to produce the new language. As a student of linguistics I’m not buying this. A child can lose and learn a language in a matter of one to three months. Ella was home at seven months old.

When an older toddler or child is adopted into a family not speaking his/her language, they often lose their birth language faster than they acquire their new one. Thus there may be a period of “language arrest” where they don’t speak at all.

However that really doesn’t hold true for those children from Guatemala who came home as infants; children who have heard English for many months yet ultimately show language delays.

Each child has his own rate of development, so how do you know if there is really something wrong with your child or they are just “late bloomers?” This is particularly difficult to answer with your internationally adopted child, when you have little or no family history.

Karen Sneddon a pediatric speech pathologist writes that:

“Formal testing reveals that internationally adopted children often initially fall below age expectations in motor abilities, cognitive development and language/communication skills. They then receive services to address those needs and “catch up.” Whatever the combination of delayed skills, language delay is the most common.“

I’ve come to the conclusion that the answers to questions about language delays in adopted Guatemalan born children can only be found by doing a broad study of these children. Meanwhile, I’d love to hear from parents regarding their children’s language developments.

In my next blog I will discuss diagnosing language delays and treatment options.

For more information on this subject:

Expert Advice: Language Acquisition in the Internationally Adopted Child

Your Adopted Child’s Speech and Language Development

The signs of speech and language delay in young internationally adopted children

From Their Mouths to Our Ears

Photo Credit: Google Images

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