Is normal language acquisition possible in spite of serious intellectual impairment? The answer, it would appear, is positive. This book summarizes and discusses recent evidence in this respect.

Ever since attempts were made to describe and explain normal language development, references to exceptional circumstances have been made. Variations in the conditions under which language is acquired can be regarded as natural experiments, which would not be feasible or ethical under normal circumstances. This can throw light on such questions as: *What language input is necessary for the child to learn language? *What is the relationship between cognition and language? *How independent are different components of language function? *Are there critical periods for language development? *Can we specify necessary and sufficient conditions for language impairment? This book covers a range of exceptional circumstances including: extreme deprivation, twinship, visual and auditory impairments, autism and focal brain damage? Written in a jargon-free style, and including a glossary of linguistic and medical terminology, the book assumes little specialist knowledge. This text is suitable for both students and practitioners in the fields of psycholinguistics, developmental and educational psychology, speech pathology, paediatrics and special education.

This module provides a programme of activities and advice designed to assist the development of speech and language skills for children with Down syndrome from birth to five years. The advice and activities are based on knowledge of the processes affecting speech and language development in typically developing children, the identified difficulties of children with Down syndrome and current research findings from studies evaluating effective remedial strategies. It also includes checklists for evaluating and recording children's development of interactive communication skills, speech sounds, vocabulary, sentences and grammar. The programme will enable parents, teachers and therapists to help children with Down syndrome to learn to talk, to talk in sentences, and to develop their speech clarity and conversational skills. It starts with activities to develop the foundation skills in infancy that lead on to talking, including the use of gesture and sign to support comprehension, and with an emphasis on speech sound work from infancy.Building a spoken vocabulary to 400 words by 5 years of age is seen as a priority, in order to develop grammar and phonology, and a recommended vocabulary programme with record sheets is included. The ways in which reading activities should be used to support all aspects of speech and language learning during preschool years are mentioned but the detailed advice on teaching early reading is in the reading module. This module follows on from Speech and language development for individuals with Down syndrome - An overview DSii-03-01] which should be read first, to provide the reader with an adequate understanding of speech and language development to be successful in using this programme.

This volume offers a state-of-art review of what is known about young children with Down syndrome from a developmental perspective. The underlying theme of the book is that children with Down syndrome, despite their constitutional anomalies and their additional medical and biological problems, can be understood from a normative developmental framework. Interventions guided by developmental principles in the biological, educational and psychological realms are more likely to result in informed knowledge about how best to help children with Down syndrome and their families. Children with Down Syndrome will appeal to researchers, theoreticians, educators, and clinicians in a range of disciplines, as well as to parents, social policymakers, and other advocates for the best interests of children with Down syndrome.

The Reading and Language Intervention for Children with Down Syndrome (RLI) teaches language and literacy skills following evidence-based principles adapted to meet the children’s specific learning needs. It is designed for pupils with Down syndrome aged 5 to 11 years. The intervention is suitable for beginning readers through to those with reading ages up to 8 years and for students with a wide range of language abilities. Teaching is adapted to meet individual needs through initial assessments of skills and regular monitoring of progress. Together with two accompanying DVDs illustrating teaching techniques and a CD of resources, the handbook offers teachers and teaching assistants the detailed guidance, assessment tools and example teaching materials needed to implement the intervention.

Written by leading experts, this is the most up-to-date resource on speech and language assessment and intervention for professionals working with infants to adults with Down Syndrome and Fragile X Syndrome.