Written by leading experts, this is the most up-to-date resource on speech and language assessment and intervention for professionals working with infants to adults with Down Syndrome and Fragile X Syndrome.

This text provides speech and language therapists and language researchers with a state-of-the art review covering all aspects of speech and language development in individuals with Down syndrome. Written by leading experts in the field, it includes chapters on: the principles which should guide intervention; prelinguistic development; pragmatics and communication; literacy and language; augmentative communication; intervention with adolescents and adults; maintenance of skills for older adults; and a perspective on pertinent issues. Each chapter summarizes research and provides guidelines for effective interventions. This book should be a valuable guide to those working in the field who wish to be able to provide evidence-based interventions for individuals with Down syndrome and to contribute to their quality of life by improving their communication skills.

This module provides a programme of activities and advice designed to assist the development of speech and language skills for children with Down syndrome from birth to five years. The advice and activities are based on knowledge of the processes affecting speech and language development in typically developing children, the identified difficulties of children with Down syndrome and current research findings from studies evaluating effective remedial strategies. It also includes checklists for evaluating and recording children's development of interactive communication skills, speech sounds, vocabulary, sentences and grammar. The programme will enable parents, teachers and therapists to help children with Down syndrome to learn to talk, to talk in sentences, and to develop their speech clarity and conversational skills. It starts with activities to develop the foundation skills in infancy that lead on to talking, including the use of gesture and sign to support comprehension, and with an emphasis on speech sound work from infancy.Building a spoken vocabulary to 400 words by 5 years of age is seen as a priority, in order to develop grammar and phonology, and a recommended vocabulary programme with record sheets is included. The ways in which reading activities should be used to support all aspects of speech and language learning during preschool years are mentioned but the detailed advice on teaching early reading is in the reading module. This module follows on from Speech and language development for individuals with Down syndrome - An overview DSii-03-01] which should be read first, to provide the reader with an adequate understanding of speech and language development to be successful in using this programme.

For individuals with Down syndrome, the extent of the effect of intellectual disability depends largely on the degree of provision of appropriate support and intervention. In Educating Learners with Down Syndrome, editors Rhonda Faragher and Barbara Clarke have brought together a number of expert contributors, whose chapters review recent findings in the field of DS education, highlight promising practices, and identify areas for future research. While the emphasis is primarily on the school years, links to early intervention and to life post-16 are made, with chapters organized into three parts: conceptual overview of issues in learning and teaching, learning mathematics, and literacy development. The book is also united by the cohesive themes of assessment, evidence-based practice, and inclusive practices. Educating Learners with Down Syndrome importantly incorporates the voices of individuals with Down syndrome, whose personal narratives add significance to the research mission of the text and demonstrate the authors' inclusive philosophy. Aimed at researchers, teacher educators, higher degree students, and policy makers, this book is the first of its kind to provide a compendium of research on educating learners with Down syndrome.

We know considerably more about persons with intellectual disability than we did even a decade ago. Seeking to improve and increase upon this knowledge, this book provides a map to continue sophisticated and precise research, to inspire professionals involved with intellectual disability, and to better the lives of persons affected by it.