Sleep problems and recall memory in children with Down syndrome and typically developing controls

The present study (a) addressed difficulties in speech fluency in children with Down syndrome and typically developing children at a similar non-verbal level and (b) examined the association between difficulties with speech fluency and language skills in children with Down syndrome. Data from a cross-sectional parent survey that included questions about children’s difficulties with speech fluency, as well as clinical tests from a national age cohort of 43 six-year-olds with Down syndrome and 57 young typically developing children, were collected. Fisher’s exact test, Student’s t-test, linear regression, and density ellipse scatter plots were used for analysis. There was a significantly higher occurrence of parent-reported difficulties with speech fluency in the children with Down syndrome. Higher language scores were significantly associated with a lower degree of difficulties; this association was strongest for vocabulary and phonological skills. Although difficulties with speech fluency were not reported for all children with Down syndrome, a substantially higher occurrence of such difficulties was reported compared to that for typically developing children. The significant association between difficulties with speech fluency and the level of language functioning suggests that speech fluency and language skills should be taken into consideration when planning treatment for children with Down syndrome.

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Pathways to language: a naturalistic study of children with Williams syndrome and children with Down syndrome

Journal of Child Language ◽

10.1017/s0305000912000475 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

pp. 106-138 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

YONATA LEVY ◽

ARIELA EILAM

Keyword(s):

Down Syndrome ◽

Data Collection ◽

Williams Syndrome ◽

Language Delay ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Naturalistic Study ◽

Children With Down Syndrome ◽

Network Properties ◽

Development Of Language ◽

Language Onset

ABSTRACTThis is a naturalistic study of the development of language in Hebrew-speaking children with Williams syndrome (WS) and children with Down syndrome (DS), whose MLU extended from 1·0 to 4·4. Developmental curves over the entire span of data collection revealed minor differences between children with WS, children with DS, and typically developing (TD) controls of similar MLU. Development within one calendar year showed remarkable synchrony among the variables. However, age of language onset and pace of acquisition departed significantly from normal timing. It is argued that in view of the centrality of genetic timing and the network properties of cognition, normal schedules are crucial determinants of intact development. Consequently, with respect to neurodevelopmental syndromes, the so-called ‘language delay’ is indicative of deviance that is likely to impact development in critical ways.

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Gestural symbolic strategies in children with Down syndrome

Gesture ◽

10.1075/gest.20002.bel ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 19 (2-3) ◽

pp. 299-334

Author(s):

Arianna Bello ◽

Silvia Stefanini ◽

Pasquale Rinaldi ◽

Daniela Onofrio ◽

Virginia Volterra

Keyword(s):

Down Syndrome ◽

Picture Naming ◽

Item Analysis ◽

Naming Task ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Typically Developing Children ◽

Children With Down Syndrome ◽

Communicative Development ◽

Developmental Age ◽

Representational Gestures

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.

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The impact of sleep problems on functional and cognitive outcomes in children with Down syndrome: a review of the literature

Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine ◽

10.5664/jcsm.8630 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (10) ◽

pp. 1785-1795 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jasneek K. Chawla ◽

Scott Burgess ◽

Helen Heussler

Keyword(s):

Down Syndrome ◽

Sleep Problems ◽

Cognitive Outcomes ◽

Review Of The Literature ◽

Children With Down Syndrome ◽

The Impact

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Propensity Scores: Method for Matching on Multiple Variables in Down Syndrome Research

Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities ◽

10.1352/1934-9556-47.5.348 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 47 (5) ◽

pp. 348-357 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Jennifer Urbano Blackford

Keyword(s):

Down Syndrome ◽

Propensity Score ◽

Effect Size ◽

Propensity Scores ◽

Group Differences ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Children With Down Syndrome ◽

Confounding Variables ◽

Multiple Variables ◽

Birth Data

Abstract Confounding variables can affect the results from studies of children with Down syndrome and their families. Traditional methods for addressing confounders are often limited, providing control for only a few confounding variables. This study introduces propensity score matching to control for multiple confounding variables. Using Tennessee birth data as an example, newborns with Down syndrome were compared with a group of typically developing infants on birthweight. Three approaches to matching on confounders—nonmatched, covariate matched, and propensity matched—were compared using 8 potential confounders. Fewer than half of the newborns with Down syndrome were matched using covariate matching, and the matched group was differed from the unmatched newborns. Using propensity scores, 100% of newborns with Down syndrome could be matched to a group of comparison newborns, a decreased effect size was found on newborn birthweight, and group differences were not statistically significant.

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Observational Assessment and Maternal Reports of Motivation in Children and Adolescents With Down Syndrome

American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities ◽

10.1352/1944-7558-116.2.153 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 116 (2) ◽

pp. 153-164 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Linda Gilmore ◽

Monica Cuskelly

Keyword(s):

Down Syndrome ◽

Intellectual Disability ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Group Differences ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Observational Assessment ◽

Typically Developing Children ◽

Significant Group ◽

Children With Down Syndrome ◽

Maternal Reports

Abstract Despite a lack of consistent empirical evidence, there has been an ongoing assumption that intellectual disability is associated with reduced levels of motivation. The participants in this study were 33 children with Down syndrome ages 10–15 years and 33 typically developing 3–8-year-old children. Motivation was measured through observational assessments of curiosity, preference for challenge, and persistence, as well as maternal reports. There were no significant group differences on motivation tasks, but mothers of children with Down syndrome rated their children significantly lower on motivation than did parents of typically developing children. There were some intriguing group differences in the pattern of correlations among observations and parent reports. The findings challenge long-held views that individuals with intellectual disability are invariably deficient in motivation.

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