Updates

The power of behavioural approaches

Behavioural approaches can be used very effectively to teach new skills and to change behaviours that are challenging and not socially adaptive. In this Update, discussing two recently published Case Studies, Sue Buckley argues that they may have gone out of fashion but should be revived.

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Shaping speech

Clear speech can often be challenging for people with Down syndrome. The shape of the hard palate in the top of the mouth influences speech production. A new paper reports detailed measures of the shape and size of the hard palate among children with Down syndrome.

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Teaching numeracy

Understanding number concepts and basic mathematical skills is important for many everyday activities in modern societies. Little is understood about the numeracy abilities of people with Down syndrome. At present, it appears that numeracy is an area of relative difficulty and that progress with more complex mathematical understanding is slow. However, some teaching approaches that seek to utilise certain relative strengths to communicate number concepts seem to be useful in practice. This Update discusses the research needed to define the precise difficulties experienced by children with Down syndrome and to evaluate teaching strategies.

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Drug treatment improves memory in mice

Mice that carry additional copies of genes comparable to those present on human chromosome 21 have been shown to perform better on memory tests when treated with drugs that target brain function. Could this be an important break-through in the search for pharmacological therapies to assist people with Down syndrome?

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Our information and advice services build on 30 years of research examining all aspects cognitive development, speech, language, reading, maths and social development for people with Down syndrome.

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