The development of oral motor control and language (original) (raw)
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Specific motor abilities associated with speech fluency in Down's syndrome
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 2008
Eight adult male stutterers with Down's syndrome (DS) were compared with a matched group of fluent speakers with DS on verbal and manual motor production tasks at two levels of complexity. The simpler tasks involved diadochokinetic rate (syllable repetition) and finger tapping; the more complex tasks involved the imitation of sentences and placing pegs in the grooved pegboard. On both verbal and manual tasks, stutterers were faster on the simpler but slower on the more complex tasks than were the fluent speakers. The findings suggest that stutterers with DS have a different motor organization than fluent speakers with DS.
Speech dysfluency and manual specialization in Down's syndrome
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 2008
The relationship between speech dysfluency and manual lateraHzation was studied in 31 adults with Down's syndrome. Analysis of speech samples from videotapes indicated that frequency of dysfluency ranged from normal to very severe; 42% of the subjects were stutterers. Manual lateralization was measured by the demonstrated use of five objects (pencil, comb, toothbrush, ball and scissors); 61% of the subjects had a clear right-hand preference, 13% a left-hand preference, and the remaining subjects (39%) were mixed-handed. Increased dysfluency was associated with increased non-right-handedness, and this finding could not be explained by reference to either generalized linguistic or intellectual deficits. Results suggest individual variation in the speech motor control system in adults with Down's syndrome which may be associated with anomalous cerebral dominance.
Early speech motor development: Cognitive and linguistic considerations
Journal of communication disorders, 2009
This longitudinal investigation examines developmental changes in orofacial movements occurring during the early stages of communication development. The goals were to identify developmental trends in early speech motor performance and to determine how these trends differ across orofacial behaviors thought to vary in cognitive and linguistic demands (i.e., silent spontaneous movements, babble, and first words). Movements of the lower lip and jaw were recorded using a three-dimensional motion capture system. Twenty-four infants were observed every 3 months, from 9 to 21 months of age. Jaw and lower lip speed, and lower lip range of movement increased with age. Silent spontaneous movements were consistently slower than words, whereas kinematic measures associated with babble did not differ from those associated with words. These findings suggest that speech movements may reflect linguistic and cognitive processing demands and that the continuity hypothesis between babbling and words may also be observed at the kinematic level. Learning outcomes: Readers will be able to: (1) describe the potential role of cognition and language in early speech development, (2) describe kinematic changes in the orofacial system from 9 to 21 months of age, and (3) identify the differences in kinematic characteristics for silent spontaneous orofacial movements, babbles and words between 15 to 21 months of age. #
Motor Development and Neuropsychological Patterns in Persons with Down Syndrome
Behavior Genetics, 2006
Neuropsychological research has permitted defining specific cognitive profiles among individuals with mental retardation (MR) of different etiology. Namely, the cognitive profile of people with Down syndrome (DS) is often reported to be characterized by a deficit in language abilities that usually exceed impairments in visual-spatial capacities. However, recent studies have demonstrated a more complex neuropsychological profile in this population, with atypical development in the cognitive and in the linguistic domain. This paper is dedicated to reviewing literature regarding motor, linguistic and cognitive abilities in DS. Our aim is to present evidences supporting the hypothesis that individuals with these syndrome exhibit a peculiar motor development and neuropsychological profile with some abilities more preserved and others more impaired. This finding may have theoretical and practical implications. In fact, a better definition of the cognitive pattern in DS may contribute to understand the nature of MR in general and, also, it may suggests individualized rehabilitation treatment protocols.
Cognitive Science, 2012
Language acquisition in Down Syndrome from embodied perspective: How body constrains language acquisition? P. Hristova (phristova@cogs.nbu.bg),H.Toushek (chrissidt@yahoo.com),G. Petkov (gpetkov@cogs.nbu.bg) Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology, New Bulgarian University, 21 Montevideo Street Sofia 1618, Bulgaria Abstract Parents of children with Down syndrome (DS) were asked to fill a questionnaire about how much their children understand and how well they use words. It was found that word acquisition is affected not only by word frequency, but also by whether a word is related to eventual misbalance of the body. The results are in favor of the hypothesis that the constraints of the human body may cause systematic variations of language acquisition as long as keeping the body balance is a typically difficult motor task for DS children. Additionally, we also found an asymmetry of the acquisition of the verbs and the nouns, depending on their frequency and relatedness to even...
Brain Sciences
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 f...