[AdoptingDebora]

Hello!

I realize this is an old thread, but I couldn't resist posting! One person mentioned that it's harder for a person with a language impairment to learn a second or multiple languages, so I just wanted to give another opinion on that here. It may be harder, but it is not impossible. I think it all depends on your expectations for the child. I have met many successfully bilingual deaf adults who can read and write in English while also communicating fluently in their first language, ASL (American Sign Language). I am adopting a seven-year-old from Guatemala who is deaf. She already speaks some Spanish, but on visit trips I'm using ASL with her as well as spoken Spanish when she needs that to reinforce the ASL (I'm trilingual English, Spanish, ASL). When she gets home to the States, we will read books together in both English and Spanish, as she has older siblings in Guatemala who speak only Spanish, so I don't want her to lose her birth country language. However, our primary language at home with me and her primary language for communication at school will be ASL (which is completely different from English and has its own grammatical system). Eventually, when she is in college, I would love for her also to learn Lensegua, which is the sign language of Guatemala, so that she can go back to Guatamala and socialize/provide community service to other Guatemalan Deaf. At a minimum, I expect her to be completely literate in both English and Spanish for reading and writing (e-mail, etc.)... I'm not worried about her being able to SPEAK those languages, as she will use ASL to communicate in face-to-face communication.