Newsletter
#39 for Internationally Adopting Parents
November 12, 2006
PAL Center
Inc.
|
Group Consultation
#1
Eligibility
of International Adoptees for the Special Education Services
 The format
of a group consultation:
Focused on a specific post-adoption issue, a small
group of 3-8 families (parents, no children) gathers at the BGCenter
on the date and time, scheduled for the group of your choice led
by one or several moderators.
A moderator is a professional (child psychologist, therapist, pediatrician, school administrator or lawyer) specializing in the related services to adoptive families and/or children. Every consultation
includes:
The length of a consultation session is 3 hours. Moderators:
During the session we will address the following questions: The participants will be provided with samples
of legal documentation and service request letters. A simulated
Educational Planning Conference will be analyzed.
Prices and schedules will be announced |
You receive this newsletter
as a former client or correspondent of |
Copyright@2006
Latest Articles
from the
International Adoption Articles Directory
Martha Osborne
A Child's Guide to Adoption
How is a family created? Most people think that a family is made when a couple gives birth to children. But families can happen in many ways. In the television show The Brady Bunch, the mother and father get remarried, combining their two families into one. Another way to create a family is by adoption.
Transracial Adoption
What is in the best interest of a child? Is the focus on racially matching a child with her adoptive family more important than providing a stable, loving and nurturing home?
Adopting as a Single Woman
Not unlike their married counterparts who pursue adoption, single women often pursue motherhood citing the same need and desire to love and nurture a child of their own.
Organizing Children Rooms
A child’s room can be one of the most challenging rooms in the house when it comes to getting organized and staying organized. With some training though, the children will actually be able to learn a system for keeping up with it themselves. That will make your job much easier.
Helping Children to Become Conversational Partners
Use comments and questions to continue conversationRemind yourself during interactions and conversations that your goal is to communicate and exchange information with the child, to connect and enjoy one another's company. You're not aiming to teach or test him because, as soon as you do, your focus is no longer on exchanging information, and chances are that the child will lose his desire to interact.
When you are a responsive conversation partner, your comments and questions communicate your interest to the child, proving him with scaffolds so he can take another turn.Adults in conversations with children often underestimate comments. It's true that when children are learning to have conversations, they don't respond as easily to comments as they do to questions.
Comments can be used to get a conversation started (they act as leading statements), as well as to give children interesting information, which they'll want to respond to.Avoid questions that stop the conversation
- Testing questions can stop the conversation
Let's imagine that Joey, a 4-year-old child with a language delay, runs up to show you a white stone he found in the playground. "Look me find", he exclaims.If you ask questions like "What color is it?" "What shape is it?" "How does it feel?", or "What's this called?" you won't capture his excitement and nor will you acknowledge and confirm his interest. Testing questions like these put pressure on the child and keep him from talking about things of real interest to him - such as where he found the stone, whether he's ever seen a stone like this before and what he wants to do
with it.- Rhetorical questions limit the child's response
Questions that don't really require a response, are wonderful for infants who react to your tone of voice, but not for preschoolers who have something to say. If a 3-year-old shows you a tower he has built and you respond by saying "That's a big tower, isn't it?" it won't do much to keep the conversation going.- Complex questions, which are above the child's receptive language level can cause a breakdown in communication
A child's understanding of questions develops over time, and questions that require a descriptive reply are generally more difficult to understand than questions that require "Yes" or "No" answer.
Questions that begin with "How?" and "When?" are the most difficult for children to understand. And when you ask children "Why?" questions, they may say "Because," without really understanding what they are being asked. If you ask a child a question such as "How are you getting home today?" and it's obvious that he doesn't understand you, change it to one that he can answer, such as "Who's picking you up today?" or even "Is Mummy picking you up today?" This way, you repair the breakdown in communication.
You can't avoid asking children questions they don't understand, nor should you try to. However, you should be aware of those questions that will frustrate children or end the conversation because they are inappropriately complex.
Compiled by Natalia Likhtik
Licensed Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist
www.bgcenter.com/BE/NLikhtik.htm
www.bgcenter.com/BGCenterServices/SpeechandLanguage.htm
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