Early intervention program for the development of vocal verbal behavior in children with Down syndrome: Case studies

Abstract

A common characteristic of people with Down syndrome is difficulties in the development of vocal behavior. Therefore, the development of interventions to promote language acquisition is important, since language is related to other skills. One form of intervention that has shown to be effective for the development of various skills is the one based on Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA).

The aim of this study was to evaluate an ABA-based early intervention program applied by parents for the development of verbal vocal behavior in children with Down syndrome. Two girls participated. An individualized functional curriculum was programmed for each participant. Emergence of vocal verbal behavior was found for both participants. The results add to the evidence of the effectiveness of ABA programs for teaching verbal skills to the population with Down syndrome.