Phonological Accuracy Measures in Down's Syndrome

Down’s syndrome (DS) is a genetic disorder in which there is a trisomy of 21st chromosome. Speech errors are common with larger number of phonological processes in children with Down’s syndrome, with delays characteristic of developmentally younger children at a similar language level. Present study aimed at comparing the phonological accuracy scores in Kannada speaking Down’s syndrome and language age matched normal children. Two groups of children were included in the study. Group one had children with Down’s syndrome (n = 35), of chronological age of 6-15 years while Group two consisted of age matched normal children (n = 60). A picture naming task was used to elicit the response. The sample was analysed for phonological accuracy measures of Percentage of Consonant Correct (PCC), Process Density Index (PDI), Percentage of Vowel Correct (PVC), and Percentage of Phoneme Correct (PPC). It was found that children with Down’s syndrome showed lesser scores in all the measures exclusive of PVC when compared with the language and age matched controls. It was found to be a delay rather than deviation in phonological development.