Background: Previous literature suggests that children with Down syndrome (DS) have difficulties in cognitive and affective components of Theory of Mind (ToM). However, the nature of the distinction between cognitive and affective ToM has not yet been addressed in depth in this population. Aims: This work is aimed at studying the cognitive and…

Deficits in motor performance have been well documented in individuals with Down syndrome (DS). However, only a few studies have focused on manipulative skills and older adults in this population. Given the associations between manipulative skills and daily living activities, more work is needed to examine the aging effect on individuals with DS.…

Purpose: This study examined the effects of an intensive voice treatment Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT LOUD) on children with Down syndrome (DS) and motor speech disorders. Method: A Phase I, multiple baseline, single-subject design with replication across nine participants with DS was used. Single-word intelligibility, acoustic measures of…

The ability to narrate past personal events is important for classroom participation and socio-emotional wellbeing. Although school-age children with Down syndrome show significant challenges producing personal event narratives, there is little research to guide personal narrative intervention. This study used a single subject experimental design…

Eye tracking research technologies are often used to study how individuals attend visually to different types of AAC displays (e.g. visual scene displays, grid displays). The assumption is that efficiency of visual search may relate to efficiency of motor selection necessary for communication via aided AAC; however, this assumption has not…

Purpose: Many aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems require the use of an external display that is represented via a visual modality. It is critical to evaluate and understand visual-perceptual processing in individuals with disabilities who could benefit from AAC. One way to evaluate how individuals process visual…

Purpose: Many observations and anecdotes have suggested that individuals with Down syndrome (DS) love music, specifically moving to music. The purpose of this study, with the assumption that the music makes people with DS dance showing more movement than general public's, is to observe the change in movement patterns of people with DS while they…

Background: To date, numbers of studies have indicated the important role of fine manual dexterity in typical and special populations. However, the relevant studies in Down's syndrome (DS) population is still limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of manual dexterity in adolescents and young adults with DS. Methods:…

Studies examining the visual and verbal metaphorical comprehension of individuals with non-specific intellectual disability (NSID) are remarkably scarce; to date only one case study examined comprehension of metaphors in an individual with Down syndrome (DS). The current study explored both the understanding of conventional and novel metaphors and…

Effective communication requires an understanding of the interlocutor's perspective. Being able to infer someone else's knowledge about a situation is a critical skill in any communication and social interaction. These abilities are part of Theory of Mind (ToM) skills and are known to be impaired in Down syndrome (DS). It therefore makes sense to…

Personal narrative ability is crucial for social-emotional well-being and classroom participation. This study investigated the ability of 10 school-age participants with Down syndrome to share past personal experiences with their teacher aides in their school environment. To participate, children were required to speak in short sentences and be…

Background: In this work we sought to expand our knowledge of developmental trajectories of subcomponents of the language systems of individuals with intellectual disability (ID). We aimed to explore how "general" and "relational" vocabularies evolve as a function of cognitive level. Method: Developmental trajectories of…

This study focused on current life circumstances, previous life events, and engagement with productive and enjoyable activities. It examined the association of these variables with mental health problems and mood in a cohort of young adults with Down syndrome. Participants were 49 adults with Down syndrome (age range 20-31 years) and their…

The purpose of this study was to examine verbal fluency and verbal short-term memory in 12 adults with Down syndrome (DS) and 12 adults with Intellectual Disability (ID) of unspecified origin, matched for receptive vocabulary and chronological age. Participants' performance was assessed on two conditions of a verbal fluency test, namely, semantic…

Adolescents with Down syndrome can demonstrate increased behavior problems as compared with typical peers. Few studies have explored whether behavior impacts adaptive functioning. Caregiver report from the Behavioral Assessment System for Children, 2nd Edition (BASC-2; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004) and the Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL;…