Developing with ring 14 syndrome: a survey in different countries.

This study aimed to assess the communicative skills of children and young adults with ring 14 syndrome and linear 14q deletions, investigating the relationships among their language development and their genetic, clinical, psychomotor and behavioural characteristics. Participants were 36 individuals with chromosome 14 aberrations whose parents completed a questionnaire, specifically developed in five languages, to assess their son's/daughter's development. Data analysis showed that chronological age does not account for the high individual variability found in the participants' skills.

Vocabulary development in children with Down syndrome: longitudinal and cross-sectional data.

Background: Research findings on vocabulary development (1) in children with Down syndrome are inconsistent. This study aimed to analyse the developmental trend of vocabulary growth in children with Down syndrome and the relationships between vocabulary and chronological and developmental age.

Method: Children's vocabulary size was assessed by a parental report (the Italian version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories [CDI]).

Linguistic and psychomotor development in children with chromosome 14 deletions.

The present study focussed on a specific type of rare genetic condition: chromosome 14 deletions. Children with this genetic condition often show developmental delays and brain and neurological problems, although the type and severity of symptoms varies depending on the size and location of the deleted genetic material. The specific aim of the present study was to describe the developmental trajectories of language skills in a group of children with linear 14q deletions.

Lexical and syntactic development in Italian children with Down's syndrome.

Background: Although children with Down's syndrome show some delays in each area of language development, their morphosyntactic competence appears to be more severely compromised than their lexical skills and, therefore, they are frequently mentioned as an example of dissociation between grammar and lexicon.

Aims: The principal aim of the present study was to compare the lexical and syntactic development of Italian children with Down's syndrome with that of typically developing children, considering their spontaneous production. Particular attention was given to the relationships between these linguistic areas and the transition from single-word utterances to multiword combinations (that is, transitional forms).

Characteristics of phonological development as a risk factor for language development in Italian-speaking pre-term children: A longitudinal study.

This study analysed the early linguistic development of Italian pre-term children. Samples of spontaneous pre-linguistic and verbal production were recorded at 12 and 18 months of age from two groups of children: 24 pre-term children and 15 full-term children. The Italian version of the MacArthur-Bates Questionnaire was administered at 24 months of age.

The influence of biological, social, and developmental factors on language acquisition in pre-term born children.

The objective of this study is to evaluate language outcome in pre-term children, considering multiple factors. The hypothesis is that early communicative capacity (pre-verbal communicative utterances) is affected mainly by biological (prematurity, birth weight, and gender) and social factors (maternal education), while more advanced linguistic abilities (i.e.

Communicative gestures and vocabulary development in 36-month-old children with Down's syndrome.

Background: Children with Down's syndrome seem to show a preference for the use of gestural rather than vocal productions during the first stages of language development. This 'gestural advantage' could actually be due to a developmental strategy used to compensate the difficulties in verbal production that are typical of language development in this population.

Aims: The principal aim of the present study is to analyse the relationships between gesture production and vocabulary development in children with Down's syndrome, verifying the existence of any similarities with the processes that characterize typical development.

Nouns and verbs in the vocabulary acquisition of Italian children.

The vocabulary development of 24 Italian children aged between 1;4 and 1;6 at the beginning of the study was longitudinally monitored on a monthly basis using the Italian version of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory drawn up by their mothers. This study analyzes data from children for whom two sampling stages were available; the first corresponding to a vocabulary size as close as possible to 200 words (mean 217, range 167-281), the second to a vocabulary size ranging from 400 to 650 words (mean 518, range 416-648). The children's vocabulary composition was analyzed by calculating, for each sampling stage, the percentage of common nouns, verbs and closed-class words.

Babbling and first words in children with slow expressive development.

This study examined early vocal production to assess whether it is possible to identify predictors of vocabulary development prior to the age point at which lexical delay is usually identified. Characteristics of babbling and first words in 12 Italian children with slow expressive development (late talkers; LT) were compared with those of 12 typically developing (TD) peers. Syllable structure and phonetic characteristics of babbling and first words produced by both groups of children at 20 months were analysed during mother-child play sessions.

Prosodic and lexical aspects of maternal linguistic input to late-talking toddlers.

Background: Children who have reached the age of 2 years without having acquired a 50-word vocabulary and/or who use no word combinations are referred to in the literature as 'Late Talkers'. Research has not yet identified the factors that cause slow development of expressive language; in particular, relatively little research has been carried out on the characteristics of the maternal linguistic input received by Late Talkers. In fact, the majority of studies in this area have focused principally on the mothers' semantic, pragmatic and interactive verbal behaviour.