Special Education ETDs

Publication Date

Fall 12-16-2023

Abstract

The prevalence of Down syndrome (DS) has increased over the past three decades, becoming one of the leading causes of intellectual disability (CDC, 2021; Chapman, 2003). Several studies have found that children with DS have difficulty with expressive syntax (Chapman, 2003; Fidler, 2005; Grieco et al., 2015), which impacts essential activities such as storytelling. However, no study was found that looked at the effectiveness of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) in improving narrative skills in children with DS. This study assesses the impact of explicit story grammar teaching using the Story Grammar Marker (SGM) and an AAC approach on three elementary school aged children with DS. Results indicate improved narrative complexity with the Index of Narrative Complexity-Story Grammar (Petersen et al., 2008) measurement, while mean length of utterance in morphemes analysis yields mixed results.

Keywords

Down syndrome, Narratives, AAC, Intervention

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Degree Name

Special Education

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Special Education

First Committee Member (Chair)

Dr. (Cathy) Huaqing Qi

Second Committee Member

Professor Ruth Luckasson

Third Committee Member

Dr. Susan Copeland

Fourth Committee Member

Dr. Carolyn Hushman

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