Longitudinal predictors of early language in infants with Down syndrome: a preliminary study

The aim of this project was to investigate the early foundations of speech and language development in infants with Down syndrome.

Speech and language progress is typically delayed in young children with Down syndrome typically and this longitudinal study was designed to see if any early abilities could be identified in infancy which predicted progress. If so, this may suggest avenues for interventions from infancy. Fourteen infants with Down syndrome and 35 typically developing (TD) children were recruited. They were matched on non-verbal ability at the start of the study. The mean age of the group of infants with Down syndrome was 19 months 17 days and the mean age of the group of TD children was 10 months 10 days at the start of the study.

A range of measures were collected at the start of the study and at two later times approximately 6 months apart, included a range of measures of non-verbal mental ability, speech segmentation skills and early social communication skills (initiating and responding to joint attention, initiating behavioural requests) and language development.

The results showed that there were different factors predicting progress for the infants with Down syndrome when compared with the findings for the typically developing children. Speech segmentation skills measured at the start of the study were the same for both groups of children but predicted later progress only for the typically developing group.

Speech segmentation skills and initiating joint attention were the strongest predictors of later language in the TD group, whereas non-verbal mental ability and responding to joint attention were the strongest predictors of later language for infants with Down syndrome. The authors point out that the group of children with Down syndrome is relatively small but the findings suggest that speech discrimination may not be holding the children back us much as slower cognitive and non-verbal communication skills. These findings do have implications for encouraging interventions for non-verbal skills.

Publication

Mason-Apps, E. , Stojanovik, V. , Houston-Price, C. , Buckley, S. (2018) Longitudinal predictors of early language in infants with Down syndrome: a preliminary study. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 81 pp. 37-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2017.12.021

Funding

• ESRC
• Down Syndrome Education International