Core vocabulary of young children with Down syndrome

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a core vocabulary list for young children with intellectual disabilities between 2 and 7 years of age because data from this population are lacking in core vocabulary literature. Children with Down syndrome are considered one of the most valid reference groups for researching developmental patterns in children with intellectual disabilities; therefore, spontaneous language samples of 30 Dutch children with Down syndrome were collected during three different activities with multiple communication partners (free play with parents, lunch- or snack-time at home or at school, and speech therapy sessions). Of these children, 19 used multimodal communication, primarily manual signs and speech. Functional word use in both modalities was transcribed. The 50 most frequently used core words accounted for 67.2% of total word use; 16 words comprised core vocabulary, based on commonality. These data are consistent with similar studies related to the core vocabularies of preschoolers and toddlers with typical development, although the number of nouns present on the core vocabulary list was higher for the children in the present study. This finding can be explained by manual sign use of the children with Down syndrome and is reflective of their expressive vocabulary ages.

Instruments for augmentative and alternative communication for children with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review

“…However, the authors did not specify what the instruments were or how they were used; the authors emphasized only that there was observable improvement in communication skills. A study with children with Down's syndrome who also used sign language showed positive results, corroborating the findings above 66 .…”

Dental aspects of children with Down syndrome

“…Of course, given that there is some degree of disability in these patients, we must often make trade-offs in the orthodontic therapy [25]. We hope that they will contribute to the design of better therapeutic strategies that will improve the quality of life [34][35][36], of people with Downs syndrome.…”

The most frequently used words: Comparing child-directed speech and young children's speech to inform vocabulary selection for aided input

“…Rather than specific nouns, core vocabulary is composed primarily of pronouns, verbs, auxiliary verbs, prepositions, adjectives, and determiners. The existence of words that can be characterized as core vocabulary has been confirmed through a number of studies investigating young children with typical development (e.g., Banajee et al, 2003), mono and bilingual school-aged children with and without language impairments (e.g., Boenisch & Soto, 2015), children with intellectual disabilities (Deckers, et al, 2017), and adults (e.g., Balandin & Iacono, 1999). For children who are learning to use graphic symbols to communicate, these lists often guide vocabulary selection because the words are used so widely that they offer robust flexibility in communicating for a broad range of purposes across a variety of contexts (Dennis, Erickson, & Hatch, 2013;Geist, Hatch & Erickson, 2014;Van Tatenhove, 2009).…”

“…Words that are used most frequently across contexts in oral and written language comprise core vocabulary (Banajee, Dicarlo, & Stricklin, 2003;Deckers, Van Zaalen, Van Balkom, &Verhoeven, 2017;Trembath, Balandin, & Togher, 2007). Rather than specific nouns, core vocabulary is composed primarily of pronouns, verbs, auxiliary verbs, prepositions, adjectives, and determiners.…”