Re: DS & PDD and an introduction

March 30, 2003

Hi ,

Welcome to the list. Thanks for the speech info. I am very fortunate that my

son does have speech. I have always felt that as our children experience more

and are exposed to different areas in our world the comprehension skills

expand. Many people think that they haven't an awareness of many situations

and cannot grasp complex language conversations. I have always stayed very

firm on the fact that my son's comprehension skills were very appropriate. He

does display expressive language delays giving that impression to many. I

have often had that argument with school professionals but that ended after

he tested on grade level. I'm happy that you are able to recognize that they

never stop learning. Tell us about your daughter. I have the big gap in age

difference with my children too. Hope we hear from you soon.

Charlyne

Mom to Zeb 10 DS/OCD ?

March 30, 2003

Hi n and everyone,

There is evidence that people with Down syndrome continue language learning

in later teen years and beyond. I've seen reports on the DS listserv of

children with DS that did not begin speaking at all until teen years or

later, contrary to the old conventional wisdom that all language learning

stopped at the age of ten (what I was taught 20 some years ago in college).

Here's some links to information you may want to share with the

psychologist:

Predicting longitudinal change in language production and comprehension in

individuals with Down syndrome

http://www.ds-health.com/abst/a0211.htm

This is an article about same study:

Study sheds light on Down syndrome and language

http://www.news.wisc.edu/view.html?get=7937

This next one is not really about speech therapy improving speech, but it

does provide further evidence that language learning in adults is possible:

Donepezil for the treatment of language deficits in adults with Down

syndrome: A preliminary 24-week open trial

http://www.ds-health.com/abst/a0301.htm

Irma mentioned an article in Disability Solutions that dealt with this

subject. Can someone tell me which newsletter it's in? I've just skimmed

through all my newsletters and can't find it. Thanks!

Professionals do need to be careful when making predictions about the

future, but we know enough now that no parent should ever be told their

child will never talk. We simply don't know that, but we do know they may.

I've been lurking for a couple weeks, but haven't introduced myself yet. I

recognize some of you from the DS list. My 5 year old daughter, Abigail,

has Down syndrome and Childhood Apraxia of Speech. I'm an SLP too and very

interested in working with children with autism, but don't consider myself

an expert by any means. I want to learn from the best " experts " -parents!

I'll mostly be lurking since I'm not sure what I can contribute at this

point. Thought I'd jump in with this post to say hello. I'm looking

forward to learning from all of you and de-lurking once in awhile when I

feel a little more knowledgeable.

You have a great list here, Joan!

Olson, SLP and mom to Abigail 5 years old with Down syndrome and

Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Andy 17, 20; step-mom to Sherrill 21,

and Becky 24 in Gaylord, Michigan

March 30, 2003

I knew I had a couple more on a disk somewhere. Here they are:

Developing the speech and language skills of teenagers with Down syndrome

http://www.down-syndrome.info/library/periodicals/dsrp/01/2/063/

Improving the expressive language skills of teenagers with Down syndrome

http://www.down-syndrome.info/library/periodicals/dsrp/03/3/110/

Olson, SLP and mom to Abigail 5 years old with Down syndrome and

Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Andy 17, 20; step-mom to Sherrill 21,

and Becky 24 in Gaylord, Michigan

March 30, 2003

Hi ,

Welcome and its great to hear from you as I've read about your

accomplishments and steps for your daughter Abigail. Its an honor

for us to hear from you. Many hugs on sharing this. I look forward

hearing many more info, so do stay in tune.

The Disability Solutions newsletter which I have on hand at this

time is Volume 5, Issue 3-Jan/Feb.2003

Lessons by Abigail: Educating a Seasoned Speech-language Pathologist

named " Mom " .

Part two of two, ring a bell? Hope this helped. Thank You !

Hugs!

Irma,14,DS/ASD

March 30, 2003

that's an ok website, but I didn't see any articles about autism

rebecca

Re: DS & PDD and an introduction

I knew I had a couple more on a disk somewhere. Here they are:

Developing the speech and language skills of teenagers with Down syndrome

http://www.down-syndrome.info/library/periodicals/dsrp/01/2/063/

Improving the expressive language skills of teenagers with Down syndrome

http://www.down-syndrome.info/library/periodicals/dsrp/03/3/110/

Olson, SLP and mom to Abigail 5 years old with Down syndrome and

Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Andy 17, 20; step-mom to Sherrill 21,

and Becky 24 in Gaylord, Michigan

March 30, 2003

Thanks for the welcome, everyone. Yes, Irma, that issue does ring a bell or

two! I thought you were referring to an issue covering language learning

continuing into adulthood.

, you're right. None of the articles are specifically about people

with autism. I do know of people with autism that did not begin speaking

until later in life. I don't know of any studies looking specifically at

people with DS and Autism, as far as adolescent or adult language learning.

If anyone does know of any, could you please let me know. My reason for

pointing out those particular articles is to show that people without much

language to begin with, still have the ability to " pick up " language skills

later in life. Traditionally it was thought that people that had previously

had language skills, then " lost " them (such as a stroke or head injury) had

the ability to " retrain " the brain. On the other hand, it was also believed

that most " language learning " stopped at the age of around 8-10 years. In

this scenario, a person with a disability that had never learned language

would not be capable of learning it after a certain point. We know now that

is not true. Even though these articles were all about people with Down

syndrome, I believe the premise could be applied to individuals that have

the additional diagnosis of autism. Or any type of disability, for that

matter.

I know it is traditional in many school districts to start weaning older

students out of speech therapy as they enter middle school and high school.

This applies to almost all students, whether they have a learning

disability, Down syndrome, Autism, and so on. I'm sure this is partly due

to a misguided belief that the speech therapy won't do them much good

anymore. I'm hoping that changes as research continues to show us just how

much learning is still taking place at those ages.

Thanks again, everyone. Glad to be here!

Olson, SLP and mom to Abigail 5 years old with Down syndrome and

Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Andy 17, 20; step-mom to Sherrill 21,

and Becky 24 in Gaylord, Michigan

March 31, 2003

Hi ,

Still enjoyed your valuable information that you had posted. The

school district that my son attends has started another Group Parent-

Training class/support group for Intermediate and High School for us

parents with Special Need kids. I'm pretty sure that I'll be glad to

share this info with many. Always looking forward hearing from you.

Thanks. : )

Irma,14,DS/ASD

March 31, 2003

,

Not that the down syndrome articles are good. But I'm involved with autism,

and I more awaree and intersted in reading autism items then ds. . No offense to

anyone. .

But by what you said, I didn't start speaking right till I was 6 yrs old.

Also, I do see your point that ds might be a little bit the same on autism- with

speaking late. . and stuff that you said. But I think ds and autism are totally

different- but they maybe have some charastictics that they both share. I hope

I made sense.