Chapter 5 - Cognitive Remediation of Internationally Adopted Children in School and Family

Summary

This chapter discusses deficits in general cognitive abilities and specific cognitive skills in IA children. The phenomenon of cumulative cognitive deficit (CCD) and its cumulative nature, structure, contributing factors, and specifics of CCD in IA children are discussed. The disorders in self-regulation of cognitive processes, immature executive functions in the metacognitive domain, and reduced processing speed are presented as common features of the cognitive profile of IA children. The noticeable failure of school-based traditional remedial programs to address CCD in international adoptees is considered.

The principles of cognitive remediation of IA children include (a) enriching cognitive language, (b) teaching specific cognitive processes that increase cognitive competence, (c) facilitating task-intrinsic motivation, and (d) providing optimal learning settings. After carefully reviewing seven commercially available cognitive remediation programs, the Bright Start: Cognitive Curriculum for Young Children (Brooks and Haywood, 2003) was selected for school-based and community-based remediation. The most distinctive characteristic of the “Bright Start” is the “mediational teaching style” and a “cognitive-mediational behavior management system,” which the IA children were deprived of in their pre-adoption life.

The only home-based cognitive and language remediation program designed specifically for international adoptees is the SmartStart Program: Helping Your Internationally Adopted Child Develop a Foundation for Learning, Ages 3 to 8 (Lidz & Gindis, 2000). This program can be applied at any time within the first 2 to 3 years in an adoptive family, but it is especially beneficial if implemented in the very early stages of the child’s adjustment to a new life and continued over months of cognitive remediation. The SmartStart program provides the missing links in a child’s cognitive and language development by introducing basic cognitive concepts and verbal notions that should be mastered at the earlier developmental ages. The restoration or building from scratch of the basic cognitive capabilities is a prerequisite for successful remediation in the academic domain.