Children in Institutions

Articles we read for our class discussed research on development of children in eastern European countries. They found that these children had a variety of deficits in gross and fine motor development, attachment difficulties to adoptive parents and sensor integration problems. I found the sensory integration difficulties the most interesting. These deficits aren’t visible to the average family adopting a child so it could be very hard for parents of a child who has sensory integration difficulties like tactile defensiveness. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be for new adoptive parents or any parents really, to have a child who pulls away from their touch.When I was about four years old, friends of my parents adopted a child from a Brazilian orphanage. My first memories of G. were playing in her backyard. She handed me her sunglasses and decided to try to climb the storm drain. I managed to convince her that that was a bad idea and we played in the sandbox instead. Despite having had a very different first few years, and the language difference, she spoke no English, and I did not speak any Portuguese, we were able to communicate surprisingly well. As her friend growing up I never noticed any difficulties, with attachment or sensory or motor development. I now wonder if there were difficulties that I never witnessed. G. claims she remembers very little from her time in Brazil. She has completely lost her ability to speak Portuguese, despite attempts by her adoptive parents to convince her to take classes at the university to remain fluent and learn to read and write it; she had no interest in keeping any ties to her native country. I wonder now what she really does remember, or if there are feelings associated with her early experiences that contribute to her not wanting a connection with her homeland. Now, I wonder...