scholarly journals Early Visual Attention Abilities and Audiovisual Speech Processing in 5–7 Month-Old Down Syndrome and Typically Developing Infants

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 939
Author(s):  
Jovana Pejovic ◽  
Marisa Cruz ◽  
Cátia Severino ◽  
Sónia Frota
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Visual Orientation ◽  
Audiovisual Speech ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Communicative Skills ◽  
Orientation Task ◽  
The Face ◽  
Communicative Abilities

Communicative abilities in infants with Down syndrome (DS) are delayed in comparison to typically developing (TD) infants, possibly affecting language development in DS. Little is known about what abilities might underlie poor communication and language skills in DS, such as visual attention and audiovisual speech processing. This study compares DS and TD infants between 5–7 months of age in a visual orientation task, and an audiovisual speech processing task, which assessed infants’ looking pattern to communicative cues (i.e., face, eyes, mouth, and waving arm). Concurrent communicative abilities were also assessed via the CSBS-DP checklist. We observed that DS infants orient their visual attention slower than TD infants. Both groups attended more to the eyes than the mouth, and more to the face than the waving arm. However, DS infants attended less to the eyes than the background, and equally to the face and the background, suggesting their difficulty to assess linguistically relevant cues. Finally, communicative skills were related to attention to the eyes in TD, but not in DS infants. Our study showed that early attentional and audiovisual abilities are impaired in DS infants, and might underlie their communication skills, suggesting that early interventions in this population should emphasize those skills.

Babble and first words in children with focal brain injury

1991 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia A. Marchman ◽  
Ruth Miller ◽  
Elizabeth A. Bates
Keyword(s):  
Brain Injury ◽  
Perinatal Period ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Communicative Skills ◽  
Focal Brain Injury ◽  
The Face ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
Development Of Language ◽  
Communicative Abilities ◽  
First Words

ABSTRACTIn this article, we present data from a longitudinal investigation of the development of language and communicative skills in infants suffering from focal brain injury in the pre- or perinatal period. We focus on phonological analyses of babbling and first words, and parental reports of the use of gestures for communicative purposes, word comprehension, and word production. Results indicate that all children were delayed in the number of gestures they were reported to produce, as well as in reported lexical production. Reported comprehension was also typically well below age level; however, age-appropriate comprehension was observed in one child throughout the period sampled. Phonological analyses revealed both similarities and differences between the early vocalizations of the neurologically involved children and those of the control group. Most notably, the vocalizations of the children with brain injury contained a smaller proportion of “true” consonants at the earliest session. The children who showed an increase in the proportion of consonant production by the third testing session were those who had also begun to produce words by this period. Thus, phonological and lexical developments were both observed during the period studied here, with improvement most evident in children with damage to anterior (as opposed to posterior) brain areas. Lastly, like normally developing children, children with brain injury displayed idiosyncratic patterns of consonant articulation. These tendencies were observed in all vocalizations, both babble and words, suggesting that continuity of consonant place and manner is evident even in the face of general delay in the acquisition of communicative abilities.

DEVELOPMENT OF PHARMACY STUDENTS' FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS IN THE CONTEXT OF CHANGING QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR A SPECIALIST

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. V. Gukina ◽  
L. V. Lichnaya
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Pharmacy Students ◽  
Communicative Skills ◽  
The Face

The article concerns the approaches to creating learning environment and methods of teaching to develop foreign language communicative skills in pharmacists in the face of changing qualification requirements for a specialist.

scholarly journals The Association between Difficulties with Speech Fluency and Language Skills in a National Age Cohort of Children with Down Syndrome

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 704
Author(s):  
Kari-Anne B. Næss ◽  
Egil Nygaard ◽  
Hilde Hofslundsengen ◽  
J. Scott Yaruss
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Exact Test ◽  
Children With Down Syndrome ◽  
Speech Fluency ◽  
Age Cohort ◽  
Student’S T

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.

scholarly journals Inhibitory Dimensions and Delay of Gratification: A Comparative Study on Individuals with Down Syndrome and Typically Developing Children

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 636
Author(s):  
Martina Fontana ◽  
Maria Carmen Usai ◽  
Sandra Pellizzoni ◽  
Maria Chiara Passolunghi
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Interference Suppression ◽  
Delay Of Gratification ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Mental Age ◽  
Two Samples

While previous research on inhibition in people with Down syndrome (DS) reported contradictory results, with no explicit theoretical model, on the other hand, a more homogeneous impaired profile on the delay of gratification skills emerged. The main goal of the present study was to investigate response inhibition, interference suppression, and delay of gratification in 51 individuals with DS matched for a measure of mental age (MA) with 71 typically developing (TD) children. Moreover, we cross-sectionally explored the strengths and weaknesses of these components in children and adolescents vs. adults with DS with the same MA. A battery of laboratory tasks tapping on inhibitory sub-components and delay of gratification was administrated. Results indicated that individuals with DS showed an overall worse performance compared to TD children on response inhibition and delay of gratification, while no differences emerged between the two samples on the interference suppression. Additionally, our results suggested that older individuals with DS outperformed the younger ones both in response inhibition and in the delay of gratification, whereas the interference suppression still remains impaired in adulthood. This study highlights the importance of evaluating inhibitory sub-components considering both MA and chronological age in order to promote more effective and evidence-based training for this population.

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

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-138 ◽  
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.

An acquired deficit of audiovisual speech processing

2006 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy H. Hamilton ◽  
Jeffrey T. Shenton ◽  
H. Branch Coslett
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Audiovisual Speech

scholarly journals Developmental Trajectory of Audiovisual Speech Integration in Early Infancy. A Review of Studies Using the McGurk Paradigm

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Przemysław Tomalski
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
First Year ◽  
Audiovisual Speech ◽  
Perceptual Development ◽  
Phonological Knowledge ◽  
Young Infants ◽  
Age Related ◽  
First Year Of Life

Abstract Apart from their remarkable phonological skills young infants prior to their first birthday show ability to match the mouth articulation they see with the speech sounds they hear. They are able to detect the audiovisual conflict of speech and to selectively attend to articulating mouth depending on audiovisual congruency. Early audiovisual speech processing is an important aspect of language development, related not only to phonological knowledge, but also to language production during subsequent years. Th is article reviews recent experimental work delineating the complex developmental trajectory of audiovisual mismatch detection. Th e central issue is the role of age-related changes in visual scanning of audiovisual speech and the corresponding changes in neural signatures of audiovisual speech processing in the second half of the first year of life. Th is phenomenon is discussed in the context of recent theories of perceptual development and existing data on the neural organisation of the infant ‘social brain’.

scholarly journals Single-Word Speech Intelligibility in Children and Adults With Down Syndrome

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 222-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyssa Wild ◽  
Houri K. Vorperian ◽  
Ray D. Kent ◽  
Daniel M. Bolt ◽  
Diane Austin
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Word Identification ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Vowel Production ◽  
Adult Men ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Assessment And Treatment ◽  
High Vowels

Purpose A single-word identification test was used to study speech production in children and adults with Down syndrome (DS) to determine the developmental pattern of speech intelligibility with an emphasis on vowels. Method Speech recordings were collected from 62 participants with DS aged 4–40 years and 25 typically developing participants aged 4–7 years. Panels of 5 adult lay listeners transcribed the speech recordings orthographically, and their responses were scored in comparison with the speakers' target words. Results Speech intelligibility in persons with DS improved with age, especially between the ages of 4 and 16 years. Whereas consonants contribute to intelligibility, vowels also played an important role in reduced intelligibility with an apparent developmental difference in low versus high vowels, where the vowels /æ/ and/ɑ/ developed at a later age than /i/ and /u/. Interspeaker variability was large, with male individuals being generally less intelligible than female individuals and some adult men having very low intelligibility. Conclusion Results show age-related patterns in speech intelligibility in persons with DS and identify the contribution of dimensions of vowel production to intelligibility. The methods used clarify the phonetic basis of reduced intelligibility, with implications for assessment and treatment.

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