Speech & Language Development

“Although there are common speech and language problems, there is no single pattern of speech and language common to all children with Down syndrome. There are, however, speech and language challenges for most children with Down syndrome. . . All of the speech and language problems that children with Down syndrome demonstrate are faced by other children as well. There are no speech and language problems unique to children with Down syndrome. This means that there is a great deal of knowledge and experience that can be applied to helping a child with Down syndrome with his/her specific areas of challenge.”

This text is from an article written by Libby Kumin and contained in the book,
Down Syndrome: A Promising Future, Together,
Edited by Terry J. Hassold and David Patterson

Informative articles by Libby Kumin, Ph.D, CCC-SLP, and Founder of The Center for the Study of Speech and Language in Children with Down Syndrome, Loyola College, Columbia, MD are available for download here:

• Resource Guide to Oral Motor Skill Difficulties in Children with Down Syndrome
• The Basis for Speech, Language and Communication in People with Down Syndrome
• Speech and Language Resource Guide for Parents of Infants and Toddlers with Down Syndrome 
• Speech and Language Resource Guide for Children with Down Syndrome Preschool through Kindergarten
• Speech and Language Resource Guide for Parents of School-Age Children with Down Syndrome
• Speech and Language Resource Guide for Adolescents with Down Syndrome 
• Speech and Language Resource Guide for Adults with Down Syndrome and Their Parents

2009 Summer Speech Activities for Parents to do at Home

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder where children have difficulty planning, coordinating, producing and sequencing speech sounds. CAS interferes with the child’s ability to say sounds and to combine them into syllables, words, phrases and conversations. Other terms, such as developmental apraxia, dyspraxia, pediatric verbal apraxia or just apraxia all refer to the same problem. Some children with Down syndrome have characteristics of CAS, but many do not.
Childhood Apraxia of Speech Resource Guide.

An additional article by Libby Kumin titled  You Said It Just Yesterday, Why Not Now? Developmental Apraxia of Speech in Children and Adults with Down Syndrome

Visit website: www.blueberryshoes.com to listen to excerpts or purchase videos on these topics:

• Down Syndrome: The First 18 Months
• Discovery - Pathway to Better Speech for Children with Down Syndrome
• What Did You Say? - A Guide to Speech Intelligibility in People with Down Syndrome

Speech Pathologist - Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson, M.S., CCC-SLP  The Oral-Motor Myths of Down Syndrome

Fantastic resource for equipment & articles - Talk Tool.net