Language profile of Russian primary-school-aged children with Down syndrome

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic cause of cognitive impairment, as well as the earliest identified genetic condition associated with intellectual disability. Children with DS have a pronounced delay in language aquisition, the severity and nature of which vary greatly. The available data on the development of language abilities in children with DS are based on the material of the English language. There are no comprehensive studies of language in children with DS using formal testing based on the material of the Russian language. In addition, we still do not know whether the language profiles of children with DS differ from the language profiles of children with a comparable level of nonverbal intelligence with language impairments of a different etiology – with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

The first goal of the present project is to assess the language abilities at all language levels in Russian primary-school-aged children with DS (7-to-11-year-old), using the standardized test for the assessment of language development in Russian KORABLIK. 

The second aim of the present study is to compare language profiles at phonological, lexical, and sentence levels in children with DS and children with ASD with comparable age and non-verbal IQ. 

The results of the project will help us to understand the extent of language impairments in Russian primary-school-aged children with DS and to compare the language profile of children with DS with the language profile of children with language impairments of a different etiology. Also we will show whether there is a connection between the non-verbal IQ and the success of tasks at all levels of language.