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14 - Speech perception, stimulation, and phonological development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2011

By
Michèle Pettinato
Edited by
Jean-Adolphe Rondal ,
Juan Perera  and
Donna Spiker
Michèle Pettinato
Affiliation:
City University
Jean-Adolphe Rondal
Affiliation:
Université de Liège, Belgium
Juan Perera
Affiliation:
Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca
Donna Spiker
Affiliation:
Stanford Research Institute International
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Summary

Children with Down syndrome (DS) have poorer speech abilities than would be predicted on the basis of their cognitive functioning. This delay may be a result of poor control of articulators and decreased oral–motor skills or hearing difficulties, especially in the first years of life. How can we investigate the relative importance of these factors? It may be interesting to consider the development of phonological abilities in children with cochlear implants, as these children have difficulties with hearing, but do not also have issues with oral–motor skills. The aim of this chapter is to reevaluate the notion that speech and phonological difficulties in children with DS should be mainly conceived of in terms of speech production difficulties. Instead, the comparison with children with cochlear implants reveals that auditory deprivation within the first years of life may lead to a highly similar profile of speech processing deficits.

Phonological difficulties in children with Down syndrome

An uneven profile

In individuals with learning difficulties, there is a delay in the development of phonology, which is commensurate with the level of development in nonverbal mental age (Smith & Stoel-Gammon, 1983; Sommers et al., 1988; Dodd & Leahy, 1989). For children with DS, phonological abilities are below the level predicted on mental age alone (Abbeduto et al., 2001; Dodd & Thompson, 2001).

Type
Chapter
Information
Neurocognitive Rehabilitation of Down Syndrome
Early Years
 , pp. 182 - 190
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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References

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