Psycholinguistic profile of young adults with Down syndrome

Background The phenotype of Down syndrome (DS) is usually characterized by relative strengths in visual skills and severe deficits in auditory processing; this has consequences for language and communication. To date, it is not known whether this pattern characterizes the psycholinguistic profile of...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Lopez-Rioboo Moreno, Elena Alfonsa, Martínez Castilla, Pastora
Tipo de documento: artigo
Data de publicação:2019
País:España
Recursos:Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
Repositório:e-spacio. Repositorio Institucional de la UNED
Idioma:inglês
OAI Identifier:oai:e-spacio.uned.es:20.500.14468/30610
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14468/30610
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:61 Psicología
Down syndrome
intellectual disability
adults
psycholinguistic profile
auditory processing
visual processing
Descrição
Resumo:Background The phenotype of Down syndrome (DS) is usually characterized by relative strengths in visual skills and severe deficits in auditory processing; this has consequences for language and communication. To date, it is not known whether this pattern characterizes the psycholinguistic profile of young adults with DS. Aims This study aimed to assess whether, relative to their cognitive level, young adults with DS present a specific and homogeneous phenotype for both auditory and visual psycholinguistic skills. Methods and procedures Fifty young adults with DS and 50 peers with other intellectual disability (ID) were equated in chronological age and nonverbal cognition and were compared regarding their performance in auditory and visual psycholinguistic functions. Outcomes and results Participants with DS showed more phenotypic-specific deficits in auditory psycholinguistic skills than in those involved in visual processing. However, phenotypic-specific impairments in visual psycholinguistic skills were also observed, while no significant between-group differences were found for some auditory psycholinguistic skills. Conclusions and implications The psycholinguistic pattern of young adults with DS is not homogeneous with respect to auditory and visual processing. The profile of specific deficits suggests that the educative support for young adults with DS may need to be specific.