Evaluation of imitation skills and oral language in children between 18 and 48 months with Down Syndrome

• Grant number: 15/23012-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2016
• End date: December 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Jacy Perissinoto
• Grantee: Marilisa Barbosa Hessel
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

According to studies, children with Down syndrome (DS) may have delays in language acquisition, suggesting limitations in imitation skills. Objective: In order to verify the presence of imitation nonverbal behavior and verbal behaviors in children with DS and compare the presence of imitation nonverbal behavior and verbal behaviors in individuals with typical development. Methods: The sample will be divided into two groups: G1 will consist of about 10 subjects with DS of both sexes and ages ranging from 18 to 48 months and G2, which in turn will be composed of about 10 children with normal development of both sexes and the same range age. In both groups, there will be characterization of imitation by a proof of imitation of simple gestures and sequential schemes (Souza, 2013; Souza, Perissinoto, Tamanaha, 2015); evaluation of receptive and expressive vocabulary through the Teste de Vocabulário Auditivo and Teste de Vocabulário Expressivo validated and standardized for the Development of Understanding and Speech Production of 18 months to 6 years (Capovilla, Negrão and Damázio, 2011); characterization of non-adaptive behavior by Autism Behavior Checklist / ABC (Krug et. al. 1993) and assessment of the precursors of language by Avaliação de Desenvolvimento de Linguagem instrument (ADL) developed by Menezes in 2004.