Research Note Prepausal accuracy in the speech of adults with Down syndrome

Abstract

This was an attempt to extend one of the findings of a case report by Heselwood, Bray and Crookston, who studied the speech of an adult male with Down syndrome. Their speaker produced conversational speech more accurately and/or more intelligibly in the rhythm group immediately before a pause, suggesting that speech was being planned in units of tone groups. In this study, data from a group of six adults with Down syndrome (two males, four females) were examined to test the generalizability of that finding. As a group the six speakers produced prepausal rhythm groups significantly more intelligibly, but not with any greater degree of segmental accuracy. Possible reasons for the differences between the two studies are discussed.

• Down Syndrome Speech Production Speech Planning Tone Group Rhythm Group