The role of gestures in the transition from one- to two-word speech in a variety of children with intellectual disabilities.

Background: Over the past decades the links between gesture and language have become intensively studied. For example, the emergence of requesting and commenting gestures has been found to signal the onset of intentional communication. Furthermore, in typically developing children, gestures play a transitional role in the acquisition of early lexical and syntactic milestones.

Expressive vocabulary acquisition in children with intellectual disability: speech or manual signs?

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the degree to which children with intellectual disability (ID) depend on manual signs during their expressive vocabulary acquisition, in relation to child and social-environmental characteristics.

Method: Expressive vocabulary acquisition in speech and manual signs was monitored over a 2-year period in 23 children with ID using parent report. The children's cognitive, communicative, and vocabulary comprehension skills were measured at baseline.

Predicting expressive vocabulary acquisition in children with intellectual disabilities: a 2-year longitudinal study.

Purpose: This study's objectives were to describe expressive vocabulary acquisition in children with intellectual disabilities (ID) and to examine specific pre- and early linguistic behaviors used to request and comment, chronological age, cognitive skills, and vocabulary comprehension as predictors of expressive vocabulary.

Method: This study included 36 children with ID, age 3;00 (years;months) to 6;05, with an average initial expressive vocabulary of 67 words. Expressive vocabulary acquisition was longitudinally followed over a 2-year period based on 4-monthly administrations of the Dutch version of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory/Words and Gestures (I.