The effect of context on mother's interaction style with Down's syndrome and typically developing children

Several studies suggest that difficulties with production or comprehension of language might be associated with the number of interactions initiated by parent or child, responsiveness or ability to sustain ongoing interactional sequences, or the distribution of parental interaction, control and reinforcement strategies. In this study Down's syndrome and typically developing preschool children were observed interacting with their mothers in free play and mealtime settings. We expected interaction patterns in the mothers of Down's syndrome children to be different from those in the mothers of typically developing children. Sixteen mother-child dyads (eight with Down's syndrome children and eight with typically developing children) served as subjects. Mothers of Down's syndrome children use more teacher and helper behaviors, particularly in meal time context, and less positive verbalizations than the mothers of typically developing children. Down's syndrome children also showed higher frequency of eye gazes during mealtime context. Patterns of such differences are discussed in terms of how mothers' style interactions during home activities might be differentially affected by different types of parent training interventions.     

Mental retardation and stress on the parents: a contrast between Down's syndrome and childhood autism.

Mothers of autistic, Down's syndrome, and outpatient psychiatric clinic children completed a questionnaire about their attitudes toward the identified child and the effects of the child on themselves and their families. A canonical correlation between the 15 questionnaire scales and three groups revealed a general retardation/social dependency factor separating the mothers of the two retarded groups from the clinic sample. The autism group was differentiated from the Down's syndrome group by scales measuring severity of the child's handicap and family integration problems more than by scales measuring stress on the mother. The hypothesis that mothers of autistic children would report more problems than both other groups was supported; the hypothesis that mothers of Down's syndrome children would report more problems than mothers of outpatient clinic children was not.     

Verbal operants in mothers' speech to nonretarded and Down's syndrome children matched for linguistic level.

Verbal response classes produced by mothers speaking to 21 nonretarded children were compared with those of mothers speaking to 21 Down's syndrome children matched with them on mean length of utterance. As mean length of utterance increased, total verbal response classes increased for both groups of mothers and children. Nonretarded children and their mothers produced more echoics; retarded children and their mothers produced more intraverbals. The implications of these findings were discussed in relation to previous research and the teaching of language.     

The understanding and use of interpersonal gestures by autistic and Down's syndrome children

Autistic adolescents with mild, moderate, and severe degrees of mental retardation, Down's syndrome adolescents, and clinically normal 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old children were compared in their ability to understand a set of simple instrumental gestures. Almost all gestures were perfectly understood, that is, correctly responded to, by normal children from age 5 onwards, and by all the handicapped groups, regardless of diagnosis or degree of retardation. However, the ability to initiate such gestures on verbal request was generally less good, especially in the less able autistic groups. The same subjects were unobtrusively observed in the playground and during mealtime at their schools. Peer interactions were least frequent in the autistic subjects, regardless of degree of mental retardation. However, relative to interaction frequency, the autistic group used nonverbal instrumental gestures as a means of communication to the same extent as the other groups. Unlike Down's syndrome adolescents, or normal preschool children, no autistic adolescent ever used expressive gestures.Institute of Education, MRC Developmental Psychology ProjectOur particular thanks are due to the Dedisham School for Autistic Children and to many special schools in Croydon and Herefordshire.     

Maternal speech to verbal and higher functioning versus nonverbal and lower functioning autistic children

The relationship between autistic children's level of functioning and maternal speech to children was examined. Ten higher functioning verbal and 10 lower functioning nonverbal children were videotaped in a 15-minute interaction with their mothers. Results revealed that mothers of the higher functioning verbal children asked more questions, used more language modeling, gave more reinforcement for language, and answered more children-initiated questions than did mothers of the lower functioning nonverbal children. Mothers of the nonverbal children employed more directives, used shorter mean lengths of utterance, and reinforced their children's motoric rather than spoken behavior. Far from being poor models for linguistic behavior, mothers of autistic children appear, therefore, to be quite responsive to their children's relative capabilities.     

Families of autistic and dysphasic children II. Mothers' speech to the children

This paper tests various hypotheses about deviance in the communication of mothers to their autistic children. The language of mothers of 13 autistic boys is compared to the language of mothers of 13 boys with developmental receptive dysphasia. The two groups of boys are of similar age, nonverbal intelligence, and language level. The language samples come from hour-long taped interactions between the mothers and their children in their homes. Aspects of maternal communication that are examined include: the amount of language used, the frequency usage of different types of utterances, the syntactic complexity of utterances, the grammaticality of utterances, the clarity of communication, and the tones of voice used. No differences were found between the two groups of mothers in level of language usage, pattern of functional interaction, or in overall clarity of communication. In conclusion, the findings of this study provide nosupport for the suggestion that autism is due wholly or in part to deviant patterns of mother-child communication.Mrs. Patricia Howlin and Mrs. Rosemary Hemsley provided invaluable assistance in the construction and piloting of many of the measures used in this study. The study was supported in part by the following grants: NIMH Special Research Fellowship 1F03MH 52205-01, MH08467-13, MCH927 and Scottish Rite Schizophrenia Research Program grant.     

Time demands and experienced stress in Greek mothers of children with Down's syndrome

The purpose of the present study was to asses the time demands placed on mothers of children with Down's syndrome, and the possible relationship between those demands and the stress which the mothers experience. The study sample consisted of 41 mothers of children with Down's syndrome living in Northern Greece and a comparison group of 41 mothers of non-disabled children. Three instruments were used for the data collection: (1) a questionnaire for biographic information; (2) a self-report form assessing the time demands placed on the mothers; and (3) an adaptation of the Clark Questionnaire on Resources and Stress (QRS) for the evaluation of the stress experienced. The results of the present study revealed increased time demands on the mothers of children with Down's syndrome in comparison to the mothers of non-disabled children in terms of recreational/educational activities and total time demands. Furthermore, the mothers of children with Down's syndrome perceived the time they spend with their children less positively than the mothers of the comparison group. In regard to the stress experienced, it appeared that mothers of children with Down's syndrome differ significantly from-mothers of non-disabled children, not only on the level of the stress which they experience, but on the activities related to this stress as well.     

Relationship of maternal language to language development and language delay of children

Maternal language characteristics associated with language-delayed children were examined. Two age groups of Down syndrome children were matched on mean length of utterance (MLU) with two groups of nonretarded, language-delayed children and two groups of "normal" children, mostly from middle-class families. Twenty-minute audio tapes were recorded for each dyad in the home during free play, and the first 10 minutes were transcribed and coded into functional types of maternal language. Mothers of nonretarded, language-delayed children used more language irrelevant to the interaction than did mothers of Down syndrome children, who, in turn, used more irrelevant language than did mothers of "normal" children. Mothers of nonretarded, language-delayed children focused less on their children's utterances than did other mothers and more on their physical behavior. Maternal language patterns appeared to be related more to language problems for nonretarded, language-delayed children than for Down syndrome children.     

Maternal support for the Down's syndrome stereotype: the effect of direct experience of the condition

ABSTRACT. Maternal agreement with the Down's syndrome stereotype (as outlined in the literature) was investigated as a function of direct experience of the condition. Using an adjective checklist devised for this project, mothers of children aged between 3 and 9 years were asked to describe Down's children. Statistical analysis of the data collected revealed that familiarity with the condition resulted in a broader general stereotype (represented by the number of adjectives endorsed). Specifically, mothers of Down's Syndrome children attributed more personality traits to the Down's child than mothers without direct experience of the condition. Mothers of such children also claimed a wider range of personality characteristics for their own child than for Down's children in general. Implications for future research were discussed, as was the value of 'normalization' and increased contact with normal peers in the education and integration into the community of Down's children.     

Parenting of children with Down syndrome compared to fragile X syndrome

Children with Down syndrome (DS) and fragile X syndrome (FXS) struggle with language development. Parenting variables, such as responsiveness to children’s communication attempts (Maternal Responsivity), and techniques used to support and teach appropriate behavior (Behavior Management) are known to have a significant impact on early child development. We examined these two aspects of parenting style via coded, videotaped parent-child interactions in two groups of participants matched on child age (2–5 years) and child expressive language level: mothers of children with DS and mothers of children with FXS. The mothers differed in their use of gestures and redirecting the child’s attention. Overall, mothers in both groups of children appeared to adapt appropriately to their children’s developmental needs.     

Relationship between language and sensorimotor development of Down syndrome and nonretarded children

The relationship between sensorimotor and language development of Down syndrome and nonretarded children was investigated. The Ordinal Scales of Psychological Development (Uzgiris & Hunt, 1975) and the Receptive and Expressive Emergent Language (REEL) scale (Bzoch & League, 1970) were administered to 18 Down syndrome and 18 nonretarded children who had matched developmental ages of approximately 17 months. Comparison of the resulting scores indicated that although there were no differences between the groups on four subscales of the Uzgiris-Hunt, there were significant differences in favor of the nonretarded children on the Vocal Imitation subscale of the Uzgiris-Hunt and on Receptive and Expressive measures of the REEL. These results indicate that Down's syndrome children are delayed in their language development compared to nonretarded children of the same developmental age. This language delay appears to be related to deficiencies in vocal imitation skills but is not related to general sensorimotor functioning.     

Attachment experiences transformed into language

This exploratory study examined the linguistic components of adults' narratives on their attachment experiences, focusing on the process of transformation of the nonverbal experience into language. Securely attached mothers were found to differ significantly from insecurely attached mothers on cognitive ability to connect between experience and language. Results support the notion that language becomes the dynamic tool through which the individual negotiates meaning and transforms the nonverbal organized pattern of relatedness. Applications for therapy and directions for further research are discussed.     

Studies of antithyroid antibodies in Down's syndrome.

The presence of antithyroid antibodies (antithyroglobulin and antimicrosomal) in serum of patients with Down's syndrome and their respective mothers were studied based on data from the literature, showing a possible correlation between the presence of these antibodies in the serum of mothers and the birth of mongoloid children. Antithyroid antibodies were studied in 40 patients with Down's syndrome, with ages ranging from 5 months to 21 years old, 24 males and 16 females and in the respective mothers whose ages varied from 22 to 66 years. In none of the analyzed sera of the mongoloids as well of their mothers, the authors were able to detect the antithyroid antibodies studied.     

Dichotic verbal processing in Down's syndrome children having qualitatively different speech and language skills.

A dichotic word task was used to contrast the speech-perceptual functioning of two groups of Down's syndrome children having qualitatively different speech and language skills to that of nonretarded subjects. Although the 20 nonretarded subjects showed an average 23% right-ear effect on the task, the average ear effect for 29 Down's syndrome subjects was essentially zero. The pattern of phonemic processing of 15 Down's syndrome subjects having better speech and language resembled that of the nonretarded subjects; however, the pattern of 14 Down's syndrome subjects having poorer speech and language was atypical. Place of articulation and voicing of phonemes appeared frequently to have different affects in the latter group in the determination of which dichotic words were reported. Although the group having better speech and language had slightly higher MAs and IQs than the poorer group, MAs and IQs were not related to ear-preference scores.     

Daytime behaviour problems and maternal stress in children with Down's syndrome, their siblings, and non-intellectually disabled and other intellectually disabled peers

The present study investigates the occurrence of daytime behaviour problems and mammal stress in a group of children with Down's syndrome (DS) compared with a group of their non-intellectually disabled siblings, a group of non-intellectually disabled children from the general population and a group of children with an intellectual disability other than Down's syndrome. The Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) and the Malaise Inventory were completed by the mothers. Associations between daytime behaviour problems and maternal stress were also explored. Overall, the children with DS and the children with other intellectual disabilities showed significantly higher rates of behavioural disturbance on all five of the ABC subscales (Irritability, Lethargy, Stereotypies, Hyperactivity and Inappropriate Speech) and on the Total ABC score. However, the children with other intellectual disabilities also showed significantly higher scores than the children with DS on four of the ABC subscales: Irritability, Lethargy, Stereotypies and Hyperactivity, as well as the Total ABC score. The siblings and children from the general population showed very similar behaviour scores. A number of significant age and sex differences were found in the occurrence of daytime behaviour problems. Maternal stress was significantly higher in the group with other forms of intellectual disability than the other three groups, and a number of significant associations were found between parental ratings of daytime behaviour problems and maternal stress in all four samples. The implications of the findings are discussed, including the need for early assessment to minimize adverse effects on the child's development and on family life.     

Dichotic listening of verbal and non verbal material by Down's syndrome children and children of normal intelligence

In an attempt to resolve the conflicting findings of earlier research on the direction of dichotic ear preferences in Down's Syndrome, two verbal and one nonverbal dichotic tests were administered to a group of Down's Syndrome subjects and a group of nursery school children of similar MA. The expected patterns of ear advantage emerged for the normal sample. Overall levels of lateralisation for the Down's group were not significant but the group was characterised by a high level of subjects with reversed ear advantages for verbal material. This reversal was not found for the nonverbal material. On the basis of earlier findings on the general mentally handicapped population it was concluded that reversal of ear advantage for verbal material was not characteristic of Down's Syndrome but may be associated with level of language ability.     

Comparative coherence studies in healthy volunteers and Down's syndrome patients from childhood to adult age.

Within the scope of the Munich Pediatric Longitudinal Study, EEG coherence was studied in 212 Down's syndrome patients and 342 healthy controls aged from 6 months up to 30 years. The digitalized EEG records were subjected to spectral analysis. Frequency band-related coherences were calculated to reveal age-specific differences in the functional relationship between two brain areas in Down's syndrome patients and controls. The results show that in the "eyes-open" state the intra-hemispheric coherence in the alpha band was significantly lower (P less than 0.05) in the Down's syndrome patients than in the controls whereas that in the delta bands it was generally higher. The intra-hemispheric coherence in the "eyes-closed" state was generally higher in the Down's syndrome groups than in the controls; however, significant differences could be detected only in some age groups. The age-specific development of coherence in the inter-hemispheric parieto-occipital region was almost identical in Down's syndrome children as in controls, both with open and closed eyes. The most distinct differences were found in the fronto-central inter-hemispheric coherence (P less than 0.01), while the coherence deficiencies in the Down's syndrome group became more prominent with increasing age from school age onwards. These electrophysiological results are compared with the results of neuropathological and neurophysiological studies of other authors. It can be suggested that there are correlations with a significantly small number of dendritic spines in Down's syndrome patients, which was determined in neuropathological examinations. A neuronal model of interpretation is presented which explains the increasing developmental deficit with age in Down's syndrome children.     

Down's syndrome and the acquisition of phonology by Cantonese-speaking children

ABSTRACT. The phonological abilities of two groups of 4–9-year-old intellectually impaired Cantonese-speaking children are described. Children with Down's syndrome did not differ from matched non-Down's syndrome controls in terms of a lexical comprehension measure, the size of their phoneme repertoires, the range of sounds affected by articulatory imprecision, or the number of consonants, vowels or tones produced in error. However, the types of errors made by the Down's syndrome children were different from those made by the control subjects. Cantonese-speaking children with Downs syndrome, as compared with controls, made a greater number of inconsistent errors, were more likely to produce non-developmental errors and were better in imitation than in spontaneous production. Despite extensive differences between the phonological structures of Cantonese and English, children with Downs syndrome acquiring these languages show the same characteristic pattern of speech errors. One unexpected finding was that the control group of non-Down's syndrome children failed to present with delayed phonological development typically reported for their English-speaking counterparts. The argument made is that cross-linguistic studies of intellectually impaired children's language acquisition provide evidence concerning language-specific characteristics of impairment, as opposed to those characteristics that, remaining constant across languages, are an integral part of the disorder. The results reported here support the hypothesis that the speech disorder typically associated with Down's syndrome arises from impaired phonological planning, i.e. a cognitive linguistic deficit.     

Imitative behavior by Down's syndrome persons.

Three scales of imitative behavior (nonverbal, vocal, and verbal) were administered to 28 Down's syndrome subjects and 56 subjects with other diagnoses. All of the subjects were severely retarded and had at least partial vision and hearing, and the two groups were closely comparable with respect to sex, CA, and IQ. The results provided no support for the hypothesis--backed by a century of clinical observation--that individuals with Down's syndrome "are outstanding in their mimicry" (Belmont, 1971, p. 38).     

Narrative development in adolescents and young adults with fragile x syndrome

The narratives of 18 adolescents and young adults with fragile X syndrome were compared to those of 23 adolescents with Down syndrome and 21 typically developing children matched for nonverbal MA. Narratives were elicited using a wordless picture book and analyzed for use of narrative evaluation, linguistic productivity, and complexity. Results revealed that the individuals with fragile X syndrome produced significantly fewer different types of narrative evaluation, but more grammatically acceptable utterances than did the youth with Down syndrome. There was no significant difference between the participants with fragile X syndrome and their typically developing nonverbal-MA matches. Results suggest that a variety of language measures and contexts are needed to gain a full understanding of the language abilities of individuals with fragile X syndrome.