Expressive pragmatic skills in pre-school children with and without Down's syndrome: parental perceptions

Parental perceptions of the pragmatic skills of six pre-school children with Down's syndrome were compared to those of six children without cognitive impairment. Children were matched for language comprehension age on the Reynell Developmental Language Scale and parents were interviewed using the Pragmatics Profile of Early Communication Skills. Data from the parental interviews was analysed taking a qualitative approach, using the technique of content analysis. The results showed that the children with and without Down's syndrome had many similarities in reported behaviours and responses In addition, five out of the six children with Down's syndrome had some skills which were more advanced than their matched pairs. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed. The evidence suggests that children with Down's syndrome have a normal range of pragmatic skills and communicative intentions compared with children of similar levels of comprehension functioning at an early pre-school level.