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Boris Gindis, Ph.D.'s Articles
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Educational and Mental Health Intervention for Internationally Adopted Children
Dr. Gindis' summary of the latest research data on the state of intervention available in the US for internationally adopted children and their families. The psychologist highlights and comments the major findings of this publication.
FAS in internationally adopted children
An Alcohol-Related Neuro-developmental Disorder (ARND) - is a well-known and well-researched affliction. The extreme degree of this disorder is commonly known as FAS - Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The specificity of FAS in post-institutional children adopted internationally from Eastern Europe (mostly from the republics of former Soviet Union), is much less researched and less known and is the subject of this article. It is based on my own clinical experience working with international adoptees (IA) since 1992 at the BGCenter.
Notes on ADHD in internationally adopted children
ADHD in post-orphanage children is a matter of great practical significance and is an emotionally charged issue for adoptive parents. I have to point out that the core of ADHD - impulsivity, restlessness, and inattentiveness - may be symptoms of many other disorders, or just one of the characteristics of post-orphanage behavior, or social adjustment.
Italianetz: A Message That Hurts
In January of 2007 Americans will be able to see a Russian movie of 2005 “Italianetz,” a controversial film that touched upon many people involved in international adoption, the movie that stirred various, predominantly positive emotions among Russians and abroad. The author of this review, B. Gindis Ph.D., looks at the movie from the perspective of a child psychologist working with the internationally adopted children from Russia for more than a decade.
Cumulative Cognitive Deficit in international adoptees: its origin, indicators, and means of remediation
Through direct and mediated learning major cognitive skills and processes are formed and put in action. Deprived of such experiences, children may have problems moving to more advanced levels of learning. When a child misses certain stages of normal cognitive development and never learns generic concepts necessary for successful schooling, the educational matter this child is taught simply does not have any structural support upon which to be understood, remembered, and used.
In this article Dr. Gindis re-visits the origins of CCD in international adoptees and points out at the utmost importance of early intervention, discussing some available remedial methodologies.
Dealing with cultural differences of an internationally adopted child
The initial adjustment period is incredibly demanding and difficult for all members of any adoptive family, not just the child who will most likely be acting like a much younger one, will be visibly stressed out and over-aroused with everything new that is happening in his/her life. It is a cultural shock in many cases, and even families who are eager to embrace the child’s native culture and would try to learn the language, eat the food and fill the house with the ethnic nick-knacks very quickly realize that it is not enough: culture goes so much deeper than that.
The signs of speech and language delay in young internationally adopted children
This article was inspired by a telephone consultation with a prospective parent concerned about a 3 year old child from South America, who she was considering for adoption. A pediatrician evaluated the child and gave him a “clean bill of health” but was doubtful about his speech: the child was not talking at all and instead pointed at things as a means of expressing himself. The child had a hearing test which came back fine.
Pros and cons of keeping the native language of the adopted child
If adoption is on your mind, you should think through your strategies on native language issues of your future child well in advance. Indeed, the preservation of the first language is a "hot" topic for many adoptive parents who often have to choose between their hopes and dreams and the reality of parenting a traumatized post-institutional child. The article points out at some aspects of development of your internationally adopted child, which you should consider deciding on the child’s native language preservation.
Know Your Rights: Disability Manifestation Determination for Your Child
The new article of Dr. Boris Gindis spells out what and why should be done by the parents of internationally adopted children in regards to their child’s behavior issues at school. The author explains the importance of being well informed about the current laws (IDEA 2004) and the benefits of having a professional on your side when resolving contentious situations related to behavior of your child at school.
Internationally adopted post-institutionalized students in an ESL class
Historically, ESL was designed for students from new immigrant families. At present, ESL is a mandatory, federally funded program for every non-English speaking child who enters the public school system. The teaching methodology of ESL programs is for children from families where another language is spoken. Moreover, the acceptance into the program assumes this premise. However, from the time of adoption internationally adopted children live in monolingual (English only) families, not in the families where "other-than-English" language is used. Indeed, we have a unique and paradoxical situation when students, who are legally eligible for ESL, have the English language as their home language!
Initial adjustment of a school-age internationally adopted child to the new family
The initial mutual adjustment of an adopted child and the adopting family is an extremely important and stressful period in the life of every participant. What to expect? Is there a way to prepare for it emotionally and physically? It is only reasonable to expect the child to have behavior problems determined by the complexity of the situation.
The second glance at institutional autism in internationally adopted children
The term “institutional autism” has recently become a subject of discussion on adoptive parents’ lists and in the online publications of adoption professionals. No wonder: the diagnosis continues to cause a lot of confusion and ill-suited remedial efforts.
Attachment disorder: are we trying to fit square pegs into the round holes?
The attachment issues of internationally adopted children remain a very controversial problem for parents and professionals alike.
Dr. Boris Gindis
looks at Attachment Disorder from different perspectives, briefly analyzing examples from his own decade–long psychological practice and outlining his views on Attachment Disorder.
The Bilingual Verbal Ability Test (BVAT): A Breakthrough in Bilingual Assessment - or Is It?
In each bilingual individual there is a dynamic relationship between competencies of two languages, therefore, cognitive skills and conceptual knowledge that a given child possesses may be more functional in one language than in the other. The cornerstone of an assessment of bilingual students should be the determination of their total language proficiency. Does the Bilingual Verbal Ability Test (BVAT) do it well? The article was initially published in "Communiqué" (National Association of School Psychologists), 27.
Cognitive, Language, and Educational Issues of Children Adopted from Overseas Orphanages. Part IV
Cognitive and academic issues
Cognitive, Language, and Educational Issues of Children Adopted from Overseas Orphanages. Part III
The patterns and dynamics of English language acquisition by internationally adopted children
Cognitive, Language, and Educational Issues of Children Adopted from Overseas Orphanages. Part II
The language issue in international adoptees
Cognitive, Language, and Educational Issues of Children Adopted from Overseas Orphanages. Part I
The cultural aspect of international adoption.
In this article theoretical conceptualizations of Vygotsky and Feuerstein serve as a major paradigm for the analysis of cultural issues of international adoptees. Native language attrition and dynamics of English language acquisition are considered in the context of transculturality. The specificity of cumulative cognitive deficit (CCD) in international adoptees is linked to prolonged institutionalization, lack of cultural mediation in early childhood, and profound native language loss. The issue of remediation is examined with an emphasis on cognitive education in the context of acculturation.
School Readiness and School Placement of a Newly Adopted Post-institutionalized Child
What is school readiness and why every parent of an internationally adopted child should be concerned with it at all?
Dr. Boris Gindis
explains why the answer to this question may have many consequences for the child and for the family.
This article was initially published in: The Family Focus, FRUA newsletter, Summer 2004
Specific Features of Cumulative Cognitive Deficit (CCD) in Internationally Adopted Children
After the initial amazing advancements with the English language learning, some internationally adopted children experience problems at school, the progress slows down, and they actually fall behind the school requirements. Some of these children may even show significant difficulty in their academic work, which, in turn, brings behavioral and emotional problems. Dr Gindis speaks about the characteristics of Cumulative Cognitive Deficit that some of these children may experience.
This is the abstract of the article “Detecting and remediating the Cumulative Cognitive Deficit in school age internationally adopted post-institutionalized children,” initially published in: POST, Issue #27.
Understanding Your Child’s Medical Report: Oligophrenia
The question for many actual and prospective adoptive parents is: to what degree Russian diagnoses in the medical documentation of the adopted or referred children can be trusted. Dr. Gindis discusses just one such diagnosis, "oligophrenia." The article was initially printed in The Post (Publication of the Parent Network for the Post-Institutionalized Child), Vol. 10.
PTSD in Internationally Adopted Children
Dr. Gindis speaks about the specifics of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in internationally adopted children.
Activities to Promote Healthy Development
These activities are entertaining for a whole family and promote cognitive abilities of a newly adopted child. They also set the stage for developing mutual attachment in the family through shared fun and play. The descriptions of activities offer general ideas, and the parents should feel free to make necessary adjustments. It’s important to understand that a child adopted from an overseas orphanage can, for example, be seven years old according to the birth certificate, but developmentally (emotionally and cognitively) is very likely two or three years younger. Thus, the suggested sets of activities differ mostly by the goal parents may have in mind, rather then by child’s age.
Discrepancy Formula and Learning Disability Determination of Internationally Adopted Children
A significant number of internationally adopted children may have learning problems in school and require a lot of remediation and other services at school. These services are regulated by the law, called IDEA, which was recently modified.
Dr. Boris Gindis
explains what the infamous “Discrepancy Formula” that used to be a part of your child’s evaluation for Learning Disability classification is, and how inappropriate its application is in regards to internationally adopted children.
What should adoptive parents know about their children’s language-based school difficulties? Part 5.
In the series of articles Dr. Gindis explains what happens with the language of adoptees from foreign countries when they arrive to the US and begin their life in American families. Dr. Gindis explains why language metamorphosis in internationally adopted children are often the reason for so many school issues, specific to these children only and what parents need to know to help their children to overcome these problems.
This is part 5 of the series.
What should adoptive parents know about their children’s language-based school difficulties? Part 4.
In the series of articles Dr. Gindis explains what happens with the language of adoptees from foreign countries when they arrive to the US and begin their life in American families. Dr. Gindis explains why language metamorphosis in internationally adopted children are often the reason for so many school issues, specific to these children only and what parents need to know to help their children to overcome these problems.
This is part 4 of the series.
What should adoptive parents know about their children’s language-based school difficulties? Part 3.
In the series of articles Dr. Gindis explains what happens with the language of adoptees from foreign countries when they arrive to the US and begin their life in American families. Dr. Gindis explains why language metamorphosis in internationally adopted children are often the reason for so many school issues, specific to these children only and what parents need to know to help their children to overcome these problems.
This is part 3 of the series.
What should adoptive parents know about their children’s language-based school difficulties? Part 2.
In the series of articles Dr. Gindis explains what happens with the language of adoptees from foreign countries when they arrive to the US and begin their life in American families. Dr. Gindis explains why language metamorphosis in internationally adopted children are often the reason for so many school issues, specific to these children only and what parents need to know to help their children to overcome these problems.
This is part 2 of the series.
What should adoptive parents know about their children’s language-based school difficulties? Part 1.
In the series of articles Dr. Gindis explains what happens with the language of adoptees from foreign countries when they arrive to the US and begin their life in American families. Dr. Gindis explains why language metamorphosis in internationally adopted children are often the reason for so many school issues, specific to these children only and what parents need to know to help their children to overcome these problems.
This is part 1 of the series.
Initial developmental evaluation of an internationally adopted child: is it important?
A psycho-educational assessment of a child in the native language has not yet become a standard procedure for every older internationally adopted child, but its value is difficult to overestimate. Dr. Gindis explains why and when parents should request such evaluation.
What does my child need: neuropsychological or psycho-educational assessment?
On arrival to the US with their newly adopted child or later on, when certain problems require parents to go to professionals for a developmental evaluation of the child, many parents are faced with the dilemma: who is the right professional for the evaluation of an internationally adopted child and what can different specialists offer?
Dr. Gindis explains the difference between neuropsychological or psycho-educational assessments of an internationally adopted child and helps you understand which professional you should look for.
SmartStart: Home-Based Cognitive and Language Remediation Program for Internationally Adopted Children
Children of different ages adopted internationally are often ”at risk” educationally. Deprived of essential learning experiences in orphanages, they are indeed disadvantaged and may have cognitive and language problems moving to more advanced levels of learning after adoption. The answer to this problem in many cases is an early, well-planned, focused, and systematic cognitive and language remediation at school, in the community, and at home. Dr. Gindis gives an overview of the SmartStart program that attempts to enhance every day family activities and make them more cognitively and developmentally effective for a child.
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