Spontaneity is an area of expressive language in children with Down syndrome that has received little attention in the literature. Nonverbal stimuli to which children emit spontaneous utterances do not... Read more...
In this paper, Kathleen Feeley and Emily Jones describe five case studies that reflect commonly occurring challenging behaviours among children with Down syndrome and show how a variety of intervention... Read more...
Index
Case Studies
Original reports of clinical observations and small intervention trials.
Strategies to address challenging behaviour
For many parents, researchers, and practitioners familiar with children with Down
syndrome, challenging behaviour is a common occurrence. There is substantial empirical
research demonstrating the effective use of behaviourally based procedures to assess
and intervene on challenging behaviour in individuals with developmental disabilities
(across the ages). However, close examination of the behavioural intervention literature
reveals relatively few applications with children with Down syndrome and even fewer
applications targeting the specific and characteristic challenges presented by these
children.
In this paper, Kathleen Feeley and Emily Jones describe five case studies that reflect
commonly occurring challenging behaviours among children with Down syndrome and
show how a variety of intervention strategies were used to successfully modify the
behaviours.
Teaching spontaneous responses to a young child with Down syndrome
Children with Down syndrome experience significant impairments in communication
across a range of skills including articulation, morphology, syntax, and semantics.
While both receptive and expressive language are specifically impaired, the expressive
language of children with Down syndrome lags further behind their receptive capabilities,
affecting interactions with family, peers, and community members.
An area of expressive language in children with Down syndrome receiving little attention
in the literature is spontaneity. Nonverbal stimuli to which children emit spontaneous
utterances do not include explicit adult vocalisations, rather the important features
may include nonvocal components (e.g., a bird flying) or the action of another person
(e.g., presenting a new toy).
Researchers have addressed spontaneity in children with autism (for whom spontaneity
is often impaired) using intensive intervention procedures (in which multiple teaching
opportunities were presented in close proximity with unrelated reinforcers delivered
for correct responding). In this Case Study, Kathleen Feeley and Emily
Jones examine an intensive behavioural intervention to teach spontaneous responses
to a child with Down syndrome.
Support better education for young people who have Down syndrome
Down Syndrome Education International's research programmes investigate all aspects
of development and education for young people who have Down syndrome.
For nearly 30 years, we have pioneered practical ways to help young people who have
Down syndrome to achieve more.
We work with families, teachers and therapists, researchers and support organisations
in over 180 countries, helping over 100,000 people with Down syndrome to achieve
more every year.
Our continuing work depends on the generous support of donors everywhere.
Please donate today. Thank you for your continuing support.