Syntactic development in children with intellectual disabilities - using structured assessment of syntax.
Wait to teach passives until mental age 7-9 and tweak goals for ASD (passives) versus Down syndrome (all syntax).
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team gave a syntax test to children with intellectual disability, autism, and Down syndrome.
They compared each group to kids who shared the same mental age.
The goal was to see which grammar forms each disability profile struggles with most.
What they found
All children with ID were behind their mental-age peers in grammar.
Only the autism group had extra trouble with passive sentences like "The ball was kicked by the girl."
Kids with Down syndrome lagged across every syntax area, not just one.
How this fits with other research
Polišenská et al. (2014) saw the same broad delay in Down syndrome, so the new data confirm that picture.
López-Riobóo et al. (2019) found that young adults with DS show bigger auditory than visual language gaps; together the studies warn us that poor hearing skills may widen the syntax gap we see in children.
Geurts et al. (2008) used parent checklists and saw structural problems in preschool ASD; the 2019 lab test agrees but pinpoints passive voice as the unique ASD sore spot.
Why it matters
Stop teaching passives until a child’s mental age hits seven to nine.
For Down syndrome, plan wide syntax goals and check hearing often.
For ASD, isolate passive voice in your probe lists and teach it with extra visual cues.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Children with intellectual disabilities (IDs) have a severe delay in syntactic development compared with other language abilities. This study investigated conditions of syntactic development in native Japanese-speaking children with ID. METHODS: Children with ID [N = 51; 18 autism spectrum disorders (ASD), 18 Down syndrome (DS) and 15 ID without ASD and DS] were compared with typically developing children (N = 78) with the same mental age (MA). The development of syntax in spoken language was examined by receptive and production tasks. RESULTS: The development of syntax in children with ID was significantly delayed than in typically developing children with the same MA. However, when reaching the MA of 7-9, syntax abilities started to develop remarkably. Moreover, children with ASD had significant difficulties in acquiring passive voice, whereas children with DS showed a significant delay in syntactic development. CONCLUSIONS: The development of syntax in children with ID might be affected by MA and the type of disability. Moreover, it is necessary to exceed an MA of 7-9 years for children with ID to develop syntax abilities.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2019 · doi:10.1111/jir.12684