Working on Phonology with Young Children with Down Syndrome – A Pilot Study

This paper describes a pilot study of a therapy programme aimed at remediating unintelligible speech in young children with Down Syndrome. The programme utilised amplification and structured exposure to the contrastive values of phonemes in an attempt to encourage experimentation and promote change. The results obtained with six children indicated that major restructuring occurred in their phonological systems within short time spans and that the increased intelligibility facilitated growth in expressive syntax.