Discourse Skills of Boys With Fragile X Syndrome in Comparison to Boys With Down Syndrome

• Published in: Journal of speech, language, and hearing research language, and hearing research, 2007-04, Vol.50 (2), p.475-492
• Main Authors: Roberts, Joanne, Martin, Gary E, Moskowitz, Lauren, Harris, Adrianne A, Foreman, Jamila, Nelson, Lauren
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ability; Adolescent; Adults; Analysis; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Autistic Disorder - epidemiology; Case Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Children & youth; Cognition Disorders - diagnosis; Cognition Disorders - epidemiology; Communication; Communication Skills; Comparative Analysis; Conversation; Down Syndrome; Down Syndrome - epidemiology; Fragile X syndrome; Fragile X Syndrome - epidemiology; Genetics; Humans; Hyperactivity; Indirect discourse; Individual Differences; Intellectual disabilities; Intellectual Disability; Interpersonal Communication; Linguistics; Male; Males; Narration; Nonverbal Communication; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Pragmatics; Receptive Language; Semiotics; Severity of Illness Index; Social interaction; Social research; Speech; Speech Communication; Speech Disorders - diagnosis; Speech Disorders - epidemiology; Studies; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Syntax; Withdrawal (Psychology)
• ISSN: 1092-4388; 1558-9102
• DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2007/033)

Gary E. Martin Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lauren Moskowitz Adrianne A. Harris Jamila Foreman Lauren Nelson Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Contact author: Joanne E. Roberts, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 105 Smith Level Road, CB# 8180, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8180. E-mail: joanne_roberts{at}unc.edu . Purpose: This study compared the conversational discourse skills of boys who have fragile X syndrome with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with those of boys with Down syndrome and boys who are typically developing. Method: Participants were boys who have fragile X syndrome with ( n = 26) and without ( n = 28) ASD, boys with Down syndrome ( n = 29), and boys who are typically developing ( n = 22). Turns during an examiner–child interaction consisting of structured and semistructured activities were coded for the boys' ability to maintain a topic of conversation and the frequency of perseveration. Results: The results revealed that boys who had both fragile X and ASD produced significantly more noncontingent discourse than did boys who had only fragile X, boys with Down syndrome, or typically developing boys. This finding was observed regardless of whether the topic was maintained or changed and whether the turn type was a response or initiation. Regardless of autism status, boys with fragile X used more perseveration than did boys in the other groups. Conclusion: These findings suggest that some aspects of the conversational discourse difficulties attributed to fragile X syndrome may be a function of the high rate of comorbidity between fragile X and autism, whereas some difficulties may be characteristic of fragile X syndrome. KEY WORDS: fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome, discourse, conversation, X-linked CiteULike     Connotea     Del.icio.us     Digg     Facebook     Reddit     Technorati     Twitter     What's this?