Expressive Language Profiles of Verbally Expressive Adolescents and Young Adults With Down Syndrome or Fragile X Syndrome

Abstract

Purpose: This study examined the expressive language abilities of a subset of highly verbally expressive adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome (DS) and those with fragile X syndrome (FXS) for evidence of syndrome-related differences. FXS gender differences were also examined in an exploratory fashion. Method: We evaluated 24 adolescents and young adults with DS, 17 of those with FXS, and 21 children with typical development (TD), with the groups matched on nonverbal mental age. Language ability was examined using the Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS; Carrow-Woolfolk, 1995) and Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS; Lee, 1974) scores derived from an oral narrative language sample. Results: Study analyses revealed the following group differences: the FXS group outperformed the DS and TD groups on the OWLS measure; the TD group outperformed both other groups on some of the DSS measures; the FXS group outperformed the DS group on the DSS Sentence Point measure; and females with FXS outperformed males with FXS on several measures. Conclusions: The study results contribute to the ongoing construction of the language phenotypes of individuals with DS and individuals with FXS and support the conclusion that there are quantitative rather than qualitative differences in their expressive language profiles.

Adults with Down Syndrome: Characterization of a Portuguese Sample

“…Concerning language skills of DS adults, several published studies and reviews indicate that expressive language is more compromised than comprehension in these subjects. 3,5,6,8,12 Other authors suggest that the severity of language impairment is variable and that the language components (phonology, semantics, syntax, pragmatics) are affected to different degrees. 8 This was also observed in this sample.…”

“…Fragile X syndrome), there is a predominance of language defects in DS patients. 11,12 Ageing people with DS may also suffer from a range of diseases, some of which are frequently associated with Alzheimer's disease, namely lung disease, epilepsy, visual and hearing impairments, depression, immobility, among others. 13 The anticipated diagnosis and appropriate responses to treatable comorbid conditions may reduce their impact on the quality of life of people with DS and AD 13,14 Adults with DS are also vulnerable to psychopathologic and psychiatric disorders, despite the lower prevalence of mental illness when comparing to other adults with ID.…”

Growth of Expressive Syntax in Children With Fragile X Syndrome

“…Due to the X-linked nature of the disorder, effects on girls tend to be moderated by the presence of a second X chromosome (Crawford, Acuña, & Sherman, 2001;Hagerman & Hagerman, 2002;Lachiewicz, 1995). In terms of language abilities, evidence indicates that girls are not as delayed as boys (Abbeduto et al, 2003;Finestack & Abbeduto, 2010;Fisch et al, 1999). Girls with FXS have generally demonstrated higher receptive (Abbeduto et al, 2003) and expressive (Finestack & Abbeduto, 2010;Finestack, Sterling, & Abbeduto, 2013;Sterling & Abbeduto, 2012) language skills, and tended to acquire specific language skills (i.e., vocabulary, syntax) faster over time than boys with FXS (Pierpont, Richmond, Abbeduto, Kover, & Brown, 2011), with the exception of a small proportion of girls who also have comorbid autism.…”

Modeling fragile X syndrome in the <i>Fmr1</i> knockout mouse

“…Children with FXS are delayed in their language development, but this is associated with other cognitive delays (152)(153)(154). Rodent pup ultrasonic vocalizations are considered to be biologically meaningful (155,156), as they are emitted in young pups during stressful situations (157) and elicit retrieval behaviors by the parents.…”