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© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

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.

Details

Title
The Association between Difficulties with Speech Fluency and Language Skills in a National Age Cohort of Children with Down Syndrome
Author
Næss, Kari-Anne B 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Nygaard, Egil 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Hofslundsengen, Hilde 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Yaruss, J Scott 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Department of Special Needs Education, University of Oslo, 0318 Oslo, Norway 
 Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0373 Oslo, Norway; [email protected] 
 Faculty of Teacher Education, Arts and Sports, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, 6851 Sogndal, Norway; [email protected] 
 Communicative Sciences and Disorders, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; [email protected] 
First page
704
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20763425
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2544612724
Copyright
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.