Infants with Down syndrome: description of an early intervention approach

Children with Down syndrome are particularly at risk for language learning problems for reasons beyond the associated cognitive deficits. An early intervention programme and the application thereof on three Down syndrome infants aged 10 months at the initiation of the programme, is described. The subjects were individually assessed prior to the treatment programme and again at the completion thereof. Comparison of pre- and post treatment levels of functioning indicated that all three subjects made satisfactory progress, although developmental lags were still evident. The intervention programme was found to be clinically successful and verifies that the language development of Down syndrome infants can be facilitated by early intervention.