Backgrounds of Speech Disorders in Children with Down Syndrome. An Early Logopedic Intervention

Speech development of children with a Down syndrome is partly stunted or disturbed in comparison to healthy children’s speech, although, it is subjected to the same rules. The right speech development process of children with a Down syndrome (according to a child possibilities) can be provided by a well prepared program focused on stimulation of development and progress of speech in a complex curative and rehabilitative process. The exercises need to lead to the activation of a person and they should help to integrate with a society and, thanks to that, create conditions to the correct personality development. The aim of the study is to identify the causes that interfere with normal speech development of a child with Down syndrome including defects and anomalies in the anatomy and the dysfunction of the central and peripheral nervous system, and to present guidelines for a speech therapist working with a child with trisomy 21 in the first months of life. (JNNN 2016;5(4):162–167)