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Baby sign but not spontaneous gesture predicts later vocabulary in children with Down Syndrome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2015

ŞEYDA ÖZÇALIŞKAN ,
LAUREN B. ADAMSON ,
NEVENA DIMITROVA ,
JHONELLE BAILEY  and
LAUREN SCHMUCK
ŞEYDA ÖZÇALIŞKAN*
Affiliation:
Georgia State University
LAUREN B. ADAMSON
Affiliation:
Georgia State University
NEVENA DIMITROVA
Affiliation:
Georgia State University
JHONELLE BAILEY
Affiliation:
Georgia State University
LAUREN SCHMUCK
Affiliation:
Georgia State University
*
Address for correspondence: Şeyda Özçalışkan, Georgia State University, Department of Psychology, PO Box 5010, Atlanta, GA 30302-5010. tel: (404) 413-6282; fax: (404) 413-6207; e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Early spontaneous gesture, specifically deictic gesture, predicts subsequent vocabulary development in typically developing (TD) children. Here, we ask whether deictic gesture plays a similar role in predicting later vocabulary size in children with Down Syndrome (DS), who have been shown to have difficulties in speech production, but strengths in spontaneous gesture and baby sign use. We compared the gestures and baby signs produced by twenty-three children with DS (Mage = 2;6) and twenty-three TD children (Mage = 1;6), in relation to their expressive spoken vocabulary size one year later. Children with DS showed significant deficits in gesture production, particularly for deictic gestures, but strengths in baby sign production, compared to their typically developing peers. More importantly, it was the baby signs produced by children with DS, but not deictic gestures, that predicted their spoken vocabulary size one year later. Our results further highlight the important role baby signs can play in language development in children with developmental disorders.

Type
Brief Research Report
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 43 , Issue 4 , July 2016 , pp. 948 - 963
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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