Speech and language development for infants with Down syndrome (0-5 years)
Sue Buckley and Gillian Bird
This module provides a programme of activities and advice designed to assist the development of speech and language skills for children with Down syndrome from birth to five years. The advice and activities are based on knowledge of the processes affecting speech and language development in typically developing children, the identified difficulties of children with Down syndrome and current research findings from studies evaluating effective remedial strategies. It also includes checklists for evaluating and recording children’s development of interactive communication skills, speech sounds, vocabulary, sentences and grammar. The programme will enable parents, teachers and therapists to help children with Down syndrome to learn to talk, to talk in sentences, and to develop their speech clarity and conversational skills. It starts with activities to develop the foundation skills in infancy that lead on to talking, including the use of gesture and sign to support comprehension, and with an emphasis on speech sound work from infancy. Building a spoken vocabulary to 400 words by 5 years of age is seen as a priority, in order to develop grammar and phonology, and a recommended vocabulary programme with record sheets is included. The ways in which reading activities should be used to support all aspects of speech and language learning during preschool years are mentioned but the detailed advice on teaching early reading is in the reading module. This module follows on from Speech and language development for individuals with Down syndrome - An overview [DSii-03-01] which should be read first, to provide the reader with an adequate understanding of speech and language development to be successful in using this programme.
Buckley SJ, Bird G. Speech and language development for infants with Down syndrome (0-5 years). Down Syndrome Issues and Information. 2001.
Now available in print and ebook editions
Down Syndrome Issues and Information books are now available as either printed books or PDF ebooks.
Copies can be purchased from DSE stores in the US and in the UK:
See and Learn Speech is designed to help parents and educators support children with Down syndrome to develop clearer speech.
See and Learn Speech offers a structured approach to support speech development, working in small steps towards clearer speech production.
Now available as teaching kits and apps.
Find out more...