The relationship between spontaneous gesture production and spoken lexical ability in children with Down syndrome in a naming task

Author(s):  
Silvia Stefanini ◽  
Martina Recchia ◽  
Maria Cristina Caselli
Gesture ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Stefanini ◽  
Martina Recchia ◽  
Maria Cristina Caselli

We examined the relationship between spontaneous gesture production and spoken lexical ability in children with Down syndrome (DS) in a naming task. Fifteen children with DS (3;8–8;3 years) were compared to 15 typically developing (TD) children matched for developmental age (DATD) (2;6–4;3 years of chronological age) and 15 matched for lexical ability identified by the MacArthur-Bates CDI questionnaire (LATD) (1;9–2;6 years of chronological age). Children of the DATD group displayed a larger number of correct spoken answers compared to other groups, while DS and LATD groups showed a similar naming accuracy. In comparison to both groups of TD children, a higher number of unintelligible answers was produced by children with DS, indicating that their spoken language is characterized by serious phono-articulatory difficulties. Although children with DS did not differ from DATD and LATD controls on the total number of gestures, they produced a significantly higher percentage of representational gestures. Furthermore, DATD children produced more spoken answers without gestures, LATD children produced more bimodal answers, while children with DS gestured more without speech. Results suggest that representational gestures may serve to express meanings when children’s cognitive abilities outstrip their productive spoken language skills.


Gesture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 299-334
Author(s):  
Arianna Bello ◽  
Silvia Stefanini ◽  
Pasquale Rinaldi ◽  
Daniela Onofrio ◽  
Virginia Volterra

Abstract In early communicative development, children with Down syndrome (DS) make extensive use of gestures to compensate for articulatory difficulties. Here, we analyzed the symbolic strategies that underlie this gesture production, compared to that used by typically developing children. Using the same picture-naming task, 79 representational gestures produced by 10 children with DS and 42 representational gestures produced by 10 typically developing children of comparable developmental age (3;1 vs. 2;9, respectively) were collected. The gestures were analyzed and classified according to four symbolic strategies. The two groups performed all of the strategies, with no significant differences for either choice or frequency of the strategies used. The item analysis highlighted that some photographs tended to elicit the use of the same strategy in both groups. These results indicate that similar symbolic strategies are active in children with DS as in typically developing children, which suggests interesting similarities in their symbolic development.


Author(s):  
AGNIESZKA JĘDRZEJOWSKA

Agnieszka Jędrzejowska, Umiejętności komunikacyjne dzieci z zespołem Downa [Communication skills of children with Down Syndrome]. Interdyscyplinarne Konteksty Pedagogiki Specjalnej, nr 22, Poznań 2018. Pp. 201-218. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. ISSN 2300-391X. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/ikps.2018.22.12 The purpose of this article is to present the results of research concern setting of functional cooperation with the interlocutor in children with Down syndrome in a peer group. Analysis of the results indicates the relationship between methods of therapy and development of children with Down syndrome. The methods of Alterantive and Augmentative Communication (AAC) are important in achieving success in building relationships for children with problems with verbal communication. Secondly, peer group is important to increase social skills. This research show that children with Downe syndrome need similar friends. This leads to the coclussion that group with homogeneous disability is area of development.


1991 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin E. Block

The effects of Down syndrome (DS) on motor development have been widely reported over the years, particularly with the profusion of research in the past 10 years. Although more research is needed to fully understand the relationship between DS and motor development, there is a need to synthesize the current findings. Henderson (1985, 1986) and Reid (1985) reviewed the literature regarding the motor development of children with DS. While Henderson’s review was extremely well done, certain recent studies can add to our understanding of the motor characteristics of these children. Furthermore, Henderson did not examine factors such as cardiac, anatomical, and sensory deficits that can affect motor development. Therefore this paper reviews the extant literature regarding the motor development of children with DS in terms of health and medical conditions that can affect this development as well as the motor development of infants and all others with DS. Finally, implications for future research and programming are discussed.


Gesture ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Zampini ◽  
Laura D'Odorico

The present study aimed to describe language development in children with Down syndrome, focussing on the relationships between gestural and vocal communication. The individual developmental trajectories of gesture production and its predictive role on later language development were analysed in a group of children with Down syndrome. Eight two-year-old children were followed for a two-year period until they reached the age of four years old. With regard to the developmental trends, two distinct patterns were found. Some children showed an increasing profile of gesture production, whereas others showed an inverted U-shaped profile or a stable production of gestures. Only the children in the second group showed a remarkable growth in their lexical abilities. Moreover, gesture production was identified as a reliable predictor of later vocabulary size when children were both 24 and 36 months old, and the production of crossmodal transitional forms (i.e., gesture-word associations) appeared to be a significant predictive index of their later two-word production.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1170
Author(s):  
Anna J. Esbensen ◽  
Emily K. Schworer ◽  
Emily K. Hoffman ◽  
Susan Wiley

Sleep problems have a bi-directional impact on the daytime performance of children, parental well-being, and overall family functioning in the general population. Children with Down syndrome (DS) are at a high risk of sleep problems, yet the relationship between sleep problems, adaptive functioning, and family stress in children with DS is not well documented. We examined the relationship between sleep (i.e., duration and quality) and child and parent/family functioning. Sixty-six children with DS wore an actigraph for a week to assess their sleep duration and sleep efficiency. Their parents completed ratings on child sleep duration and parasomnias, child adaptive functioning, parental depression and sleep, and family stress. The parents’ reports of their children’s sleep duration were associated with parental depressive symptoms. The parents’ reports of their children’s restless sleep behaviors were associated with poorer performances in child-compliant/calm behaviors, worse parental sleep, and negative parental feelings and sibling relationships. The findings from actigraph measures of the children’s sleep demonstrated that greater sleep efficiency was associated with greater child adaptive functioning and fewer parental depressive symptoms. The study findings provide preliminary evidence that sleep problems are related to child adaptive functioning, parental functioning, and family stress in children with DS.


2007 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 208-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Stefanini ◽  
Maria Cristina Caselli ◽  
Virginia Volterra

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