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Defining Expressive Language Benchmarks for Children with Down Syndrome.

Angela John Thurman^1,2, Lauren Bullard^1,2, Leona Kelly^1,2

¹Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California Davis Health, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.

|June 24, 2022

Summary

Expressive language benchmarks (ELBs) help track language development in children with Down syndrome (DS). This study shows ELBs effectively describe language abilities and variability in young children with DS.

Keywords:

down syndrome early communication expressive language outcome measures

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Area of Science:

Developmental Psychology
Linguistics
Genetics

Background:

Children with Down syndrome (DS) require tailored language development tools.
Existing methods for assessing language in DS are insufficient for tracking progress and guiding interventions.
Expressive Language Benchmarks (ELBs), previously developed for autism, offer a potential framework for DS.

Purpose of the Study:

To assess the applicability of Tager-Flusberg et al.'s Expressive Language Benchmarks (ELBs) for children with Down syndrome (DS).
To evaluate ELB assignments across phonology, vocabulary, and grammar domains in young children with DS.
To explore associations between ELB levels and other developmental measures in DS.

Main Methods:

Standardized assessments were used to assign ELB levels (preverbal to sentences) in three language domains for 53 children with DS (ages 2.50-7.99).
Individual ELB profiles were analyzed for patterns of variation across domains.
Associations with chronological age, nonverbal cognition, and verbal short-term memory were examined.

Main Results:

Substantial variability in ELB profiles was observed across phonology, vocabulary, and grammar domains, with six distinct patterns identified.
ELB categories demonstrated significant associations with independent language measures and broader developmental domains.
Longitudinal data from a subset of children indicated observable changes in ELB levels over 18-24 months.

Conclusions:

The ELB framework provides a potentially useful tool for describing and understanding the expressive language abilities of children with Down syndrome.
ELBs can inform the development of targeted interventions and facilitate accurate progress monitoring in DS language development.
The findings support the adaptation of ELBs for research and clinical applications in the Down syndrome population.