Language Intervention in Down Syndrome: A Systematic Literature Review
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Moraleda-Sepúlveda, E., López-Resa, P., et al. (2022).
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(10), 6043.
This systematic review investigates the effects of different speech therapy interventions on speech, language, social communication, and literacy development in individuals with Down syndrome.
No funding received
2000 to 2020
Empirical studies
18
Studies investigating the effects of speech therapy interventions on meta-phonological skills and literacy found that explicit instruction targeting phoneme identification, syllable segmentation, and phoneme substitution and addition improved decoding skills for word reading and had a positive impact on articulation in children with Down syndrome. Related research reported stable positive outcomes at 5 months post-intervention. One study showed that explicit, formal education resulted in greater phonological, syllable, and rhyming awareness improvements in children with Down syndrome as compared to their typically-developing same-aged peers.
Studies investigating the effects of speech therapy interventions on oral language found that naturalistic interventions or family-focused interventions improved comprehension, increased Mean Length of Utterance, increased active lexicon, and improved morphology, syntax, and semantics in children with Down syndrome. One study showed positive effects on articulation and social communication from using the Signed Augmentative Communication Systems intervention. Another study concluded that speech therapy intervention improved language development and language acquisition skills such as imitation and communicative intention or designation.
One study investigating the effects of speech therapy interventions on social communication and pragmatic skills found that naturalistic interventions improved social communication and autonomy and independence in individuals with Down syndrome.
One study investigating the effect of speech therapy intervention found that providing speech intervention in conjunction with the use of palatal expanders improved speech intelligibility and increased communicative intent in individuals with Down syndrome.
