Parent perspectives of the language development and services offered to their children with Down syndrome.

Abstract

The language abilities of 99 children with Down syndrome and the speech and language services that these children receive were assessed using a parental survey. The survey addressed both the child’s current abilities and services based on their stage of language development as well as the services they received in previous stages of language development. Differences in language abilities were observed based on the child’s stage of language development, but not the child’s chronological age. Differences in the type of speech-language services received and parents’ perceptions of the benefits of language services provided were also observed based on the child’s language stage and chronological age. Overall, parents considered language services to be beneficial to their child’s communication abilities; however, some parents noted concerns regarding their child’s language treatment despite their general satisfaction with these services. Findings from this study should be used to guide the clinical services offered to children with Down syndrome as well as research efforts aimed to improve language interventions for children with Down syndrome.