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Intercountry adoptive parent education

• Module 1 - Introduction
  • What is adoption?
  • Who is involved in the adoption process?
  • The adoption process
  • Adoption Services Queensland
  • Suggested reading
• Module 2 - The needs of overseas children requiring permanent adoptive placements in Queensland
  • Overseas country information
  • Are you suited to intercountry adoption?
  • Motivation to adopt
  • Issues and challenges faced by adoptive parents
  • Placement proposals
  • Building resilience with your adopted child
  • Suggested reading
• Module 3 - Child development
  • Understanding child development
  • Factors that impact on child development
  • A child's understanding of adoption
  • Suggested reading
• Module 4 - Attachment and bonding
  • Attachment theory
  • What is attachment and bonding?
  • Types of attachment
  • Attachment behaviour
  • Signs of healthy attachment and bonding
  • Attachment disorder
  • Impact of attachment on adoptive parenting
  • The arousal-relaxation cycle
  • Developing an attachment with your child
  • Suggested reading
• Module 5 - Separation, grief and loss
  • Definition of loss and grief
  • The impact of loss on adoptive parents
  • The impact of loss on adopted children
  • Effects and strategies for dealing with a child's loss
  • Understanding the impact of loss on an adopted child
  • The impact of loss on birth parents
  • The grief process
  • Suggested reading
• Module 6 - Identity and culture
  • Your feelings about ethnic background and culture
  • The impact of adoption on your family
  • Definition of ethnicity, culture and identity
  • Addressing cultural identity
  • The cultural heritage plan
  • Barriers to developing a child's cultural identity
  • A child's racial awareness
  • Stages of development of racial identity
  • Combating racism
  • Telling your child they are adopted
  • The adoptive family life cycle
  • Suggested reading
• Module 7 - Preparing for assessment
  • Departmental assessment considerations
  • Assessing a couple's suitability
  • Meeting the assessment criteria
  • The assessment process
  • Placement considerations
  • Assessors - their perspective
  • Establishing a family tree and Ecomap
  • Suggested reading
• Module 8 - Placement information
  • Medical assessment of children adopted from overseas
  • Lodging an application with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship
  • Migration Health Check
  • Naming your child
  • Travel arrangements
  • Arrival in Australia
  • Queensland Birth Certificate
  • Australian Citizenship
  • Adoptive parent support groups
  • Life Story Book
  • Suggested reading
• Module 9 - General reading
• Family profile
  • My family profile
• Printable version
• Contacts

Understanding child development

• Introduction to child development
• Stages of child development (0 - 5 years)
• Activity 1 - Jasmine's story
• Activity 2 - Understanding child development

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Introduction to child development

A child's development is the result of a combination of their genetic make-up, temperament and life experiences. Specific developmental stages are identified by physical, psychological and emotional characteristics that are distinctive at each stage.

Parents are responsible for developing the child's physical, psychological and emotional growth. As these growth areas are interrelated, a delay in one area may obstruct the development of the other areas. Research suggests that the earlier the delay in any of these growth areas, the more severe the long-term affects will be on the child.

Understanding the characteristics associated with each stage of development will help the child to grow. Research suggests that adoptive parents who understand the issues associated with a child's development are less likely to be upset by normal behaviours and more likely to support the child as they experience the challenges of each developmental stage.

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Stages of child development (0 - 5 years)

The table below provides an overview of a child's physical, emotional and social development from birth to five years of age. It is important to note that the age groupings are an average breakdown only. Some children may reach various developmental stages earlier or later than the average and will still be within the normal range.

Stage	Physical and language	Emotional	Social
Birth to 1 month	Feedings: five to eight per day. Sleep: 20 hours per day. Sensory capacities: makes basic distinctions in sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, temperature and perception of pain.	Generalised tension.	Helpless. Fed by mother.
2 - 3 months	Sensory capacities: colour perception, visual exploration, oral exploration. Sounds: cries, coos, grunts. Motor ability: control of eye muscles, lifts head when on stomach.	Delight. Distress. Smiles at face.	Visually fixates at a face; smiles at a face. May be soothed by rocking.
4 - 6 months	Sensory capacities: localises sounds. Sounds: babbling, makes most vowels and about half of the consonants. Feedings: three to five per day. Motor ability: control of head and arm movements, purposeful grasping, rolls over.	Enjoys being cuddled.	Recognises mother. Distinguishes between familiar persons and strangers, no longer smiles indiscriminately. Expects feeding, dressing and bathing.
7 - 9 months	Motor ability: control of body and hands, sits without support, crawls about.	Specific emotional attachment to mother. Protests separation from mother.	Enjoys 'peek-a-boo'.
10-12 months	Motor ability: control of legs and feet, stands, crawls, apposition of thumb and forefinger. Language: says one or two words, imitates sounds, responds to simple commands. Feedings: three meals, two snacks. Sleep: 12 hours, two naps.	Anger. Affection. Fear of strangers. Curiosity, exploration.	Responsive to own name. Waves goodbye. Plays pat-a-cake Understands 'no'. Gives and takes objects.
12-18 months	Motor ability: crawls up stairs, walks (10-20 minutes), makes lines on paper with crayon.	Dependent behaviour. Very upset when separated from mother. Fear of bath.	Obeys limited commands. Repeats a few words. Interested in their mirror image. Feed themselves.
18 months - 2 years	Motor ability: runs, kicks a ball, builds six cube towers (at two years), capable of bowel and bladder control. Language: vocabulary of more than 200 words. Sleep: 12 hours at night, one to two hour nap.	Temper tantrums (one to three years). Resentment of new baby.	Does opposite of what they are told (18 months).
2 - 3 years	Motor ability: jumps off a step, rides a tricycle, uses crayons, builds a 10 cube tower. Language: starts to use short sentences, controls and explores world with language, stuttering may appear briefly.	Fear of separation. Negative (two and a half years) Violent emotions, anger. Differentiates facial expressions of anger, sorrow and joy. Sense of humour (plays tricks).	Talks, uses 'I', 'me' and 'you'. Copies parents' actions. Dependent, clinging, possessive about toys, enjoys playing alongside another child. Resists parental demands. Gives orders. Rigid insistence on sameness of routine. Inability to make decisions.
3 - 4 years	Motor ability: stands on one leg, jumps up and down, draws a circle and a cross (four years), self- sufficient in many routines of home life.	Affectionate toward parents. Pleasure in genital manipulation. Romantic attachment to parent of opposite sex (three to five years). Jealousy of same-sex parent. Imaginary fears of darkness or injury (three to five years).	Likes to share, uses 'we'. Cooperative play with other children, nursery school. Imitates parents. Beginning of identification with same-sex parent, practices sex-role activities. Intense curiosity and interest in other children's bodies, imaginary friend.
4 - 5 years	Motor ability: mature motor control, skips, broad jumps, dresses themselves, copies a square and a triangle. Language: talks clearly, uses adult speech sounds, has mastered basic grammar, relates a story, knows over 2,000 words (five years).	Responsibility and association. Feels pride in accomplishment.	Prefers to play with other children, becomes competitive, prefers sex-appropriate activities.

For more information about the stages of social development, visit the Child Development Institute website.

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Last updated

19 October 2007