Abstract
The cognitive development of 2 Down's syndrome children during the period of their early speech development was investigated using the Uzgiris-Hunt Ordinal Scales. In addition, the qualitative aspects of their early speech development were also studied. This research was carried out longitudinally from 13 months to 27 months of age for one of the Down's syndrome children, and from 15 months to 27 months for the other. The findings were compared with those of normal infants described by Saito (1988).
The results are as follows: 1) The first words of Down's syndrome children occurred several months later than the normals'. 2) A few quasi words appeared and then disappeared before their first words. 3) One of the subjects acquired a less declarative function words than the normal subjects, although his vocabulary increased well. 4) One subject showed more delayed speech development than the other. 5) “Vocal Imitation” and “Gestural Imitation” in the Uzgiris-Hunt Ordinal Scales developed more slowly in both of the Down's syndrome children than the normals. 6) The first words of Down's syndrome children appeared at the age of the same cognitive level as the normals.
This study suggests that articulation exercise, utilization of sign language intervention and categorization practice could be effective in the speech therapy for Down's syndrome infants.
