Mean length utterance in Brazilian children: a comparative study between Down syndrome, specific language impairment, and typical language development.

Purpose: To describe the linguistic performance of Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children with Down syndrome by analyzing their Mean Length Utterance; to compare their performance to that of children with Specific Language Impairment and Typical Development; and to verify whether children with Down syndrome present developmental language delay or disorder.

Method: Participants were 25 children with Down syndrome (Research Group), matched by mental age to a Control Group of typically developing children, and to a Control Group of children with Specific Language Impairment. Participants were divided into subgroups, according to age range (three, four and five years).

The use of nouns and verbs by children with Down syndrome in two different situations.

Purpose: To verify the use of nouns and verbs by children with Down syndrome and to compare this use between conditions of interaction with the mother and the Speech-language pathologist (SLP).

Methods: Participants were 21 children aged between 5 and 11 years, divided into three groups, according to chronological and mental age as established by the results of the Primary Tests of Nonverbal Intelligence. The speech sample was obtained through free interaction situations that were videotaped during session of 30 minutes and transcribed in specific protocols.