Pre-verbal skills in children with Down Syndrome

Abstract

The pre-linguistic period for children with Down Syndrome (DS) is quite extended when compared to typically developing (TD) children. Children with DS also show delays when it comes to expressive language skills. This study investigates the pre-verbal skills available to four Maltese children with (DS) who were at the pre-verbal or early verbal stage. It determines whether the participants were able to engage in joint attention, imitation, matching, pointing, turn taking and symbolic play. The methods used to gather information were observations and parental reports. The Pre-verbal Communication Schedule (PVCS) was used to record a range of pre-verbal skills emerging during the observation session to better plan intervention. Parents reported on aspects of their children’s development using a questionnaire and a vocabulary checklist. The results obtained from notes taken during the observations, the PVCS, the parental questionnaire and the vocabulary checklist were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. Results from the observations showed that most pre-verbal skills were delayed when compared to TD children. A difference between the researcher’s observations and the parent’s reports on their children’s pre-verbal skills was also brought out. Results from the vocabulary checklist showed that the participants that had the largest expressive vocabulary, also had better pre-verbal skills than the other participants. Findings from this study should provide Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) with information about pre-verbal skills in children with DS and might help them to know more about their strengths and weaknesses. This information might also assist SLPs to better plan intervention plan for their clients.