This first seminar will provide an overview of language development in children with Down syndrome as the most common type of genetic condition associated with learning difficulties and which disproportionately affects children's language development. Looking at the latest research findings and some raw data from children's language output, we will discuss whether the language trajectory is simply delayed but typical or whether it is different. When considering the language development trajectory of children with Down syndrome, we will explore what is currently known about prelinguistic precursors of language are in Down syndrome and compare it with another condition (e.g. children with Williams syndrome). In particular, we will consider prelinguistic early social communication skills such as joint attention, which have been shown to predict language development in both neurotypical children and those with Down syndrome; we will explore ways of how joint attention can be measured in children with Down syndrome (by looking at experimental video data) and advantages and disadvantages of different approaches (for example: experimental tasks versus parent completed assessments). We will evaluate the theoretical implications of exploring early social communication as the foundation for language development.
