Vision and hearing screening are extremely important for your child soon after he/she arrives. The International Adoption Project surveyed over 2000 children adopted during the last ten years and found that 17.1% of the children had vision problems and 7.7% had been diagnosed with hearing abnormalities. Institutionalized children are at increased risk for these problems.
Vision. Vision problems are observed more frequently in institutionalized children. Prematurity and unmonitored exposure to supplemental oxygen increases the risk for refractive errors and/or retinal abnormalities. Strabismus is also quite common in children raised in institutions. Therefore, international adoptees should be evaluated by a pediatric ophthalmologist upon their arrival.
Hearing. It is equally important to identify hearing problems soon after arrival. The incidence of upper respiratory infection and middle ear dysfunction is high in group care settings. Both hearing loss due to perforations of the tympanic membrane and chronic serous otitis are common among international adoptees. Since speech delays are common among institutionalized and neglected children, a thorough hearing evaluation should also be included in the initial health screening.
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