As with all topics of this nature, I am not an expert. In fact, I know very little on this topic other than what I've read. I encourage everyone to consult with their personal physician if you have questions.

In Adoptive Families there was an article on speech development by Karen Gorman that I found interesting. For the most part the parents of Korean adoptees luck out in the speech categories. One of the biggest causes of speech issues in adopted children is living in orphanages and other institutions. Most Korean children are fostered and even if they aren’t, most Korean children come home around their first birthday. From what I’ve been reading, though the first year is important, most children are able to catch up very quickly.

By age 3 or 4, most children can express themselves and are fairly understandable. However, 10 percent of all preschoolers have some form of language impairment, and the figure rises to nearly 50 percent for children who've been institutionalized or in foster care. – Karen Gorman, Adoptive Families 2006

What I liked about this article was that it gave information about how to recognize speech delays, the benefits of professional attention, some good ways to help speech development and some basic milestones.

I wrote about this article and another website on my other blog. I think that being aware of speech issues is a good thing, but you can also get too carried away with the milestones. I know so many people who watch all the milestones (not just language) and, if their child can not do X, Y and Z on their second birthday, the whole world falls apart. The milestones are wonderful guidelines (for the most part) and they are good way of watching for potential problems, but they are not set in stone.

One of my co-workers went to her daughter’s well-child visit and the doctor put a lot of emphasis on the fact that her daughter should have at least 50 words. It worried her at the time, but now her daughter is not even three and speaking in very clear full length sentences. – http://korea-adoption.blogspot.com

Anyhow, I encourage you to read the Adoptive Families article (link at the top) and, if you want, you can hop over to my other blog and read my post there on speech delay. My other post (though basically the same as this one) does have a link to another study on international adoptees language development that I thought was interesting.

If you would like to comment, but not on this site, please e-mail me at adoptkoreablog@adoptionmail.com.