Effectiveness Of Phonemic Cues In Word Production Of School-Aged Children With Down Syndrome (Ds): An Experimental Study Of Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: In Pakistan, children with Down syndrome face various challenges in their language development, including word production. Limited research exists on the effectiveness of phonemic cues for word production in school-aged children with Down syndrome. However, considering the general language difficulties experienced by these children, it is plausible that phonemic cues may positively impact their word production skills, although further research is needed to understand their specific effects in the Pakistani context.

Method: A quasi-Experimental study conducted for a duration of six months. The sample was collected through a convenient sampling strategy N= 10 children from the age group of 6-12 years with both genders having Down Syndrome and comprehending one information carrying words (ICW) level. Permission was conducted from the institute, Special education centre with the assurance of confidentiality maintenance.   Pre testing of all the participants was assessed on both five verbs using picture stimuli. The protocols of phonemic cue therapy mentioned in “Word Therapy Guide for the Clinician” were used. All the participants received 24 sessions of each 30mins in 6 weeks using Picture stimuli of the list five nouns (hat, arm, bell, glass, socks and five verbs (running, reading, brushing, laughing, playing).  The participants were post-tested on the word retrieval of 5 nouns and 5 verbs list of picture stimuli using phonemic cue therapy. Given time for each response was 20 seconds, and responses were audio recorded. The timeline of the utterance of each response of nouns and verbs was noted in the pre and post-test.

Results:  The results showed that noun production was better than verb production in children aged 6-12 years having Down syndrome.