Programa de intervenção familiar para a estimulação de linguagem em crianças com síndrome de Down

Abstract

Down syndrome is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability and changes in cognitive skills is a primary consequence, and appears as a result of structural and functional abnormalities of the central nervous system. These changes also influence the relationships that the child establishes in her environment, assuming, therefore, that the child acts more passively in the environment in which she operates. Families of children with Down syndrome may have behaviors during the interaction that do not adequately stimulate language development of these children. The aim of this study was to develop and implement an intervention and guidance program on language stimulation for families of children with Down syndrome. Related to the methodology, three families of children with Down syndrome (DS) participated; the interaction recordings between the family member chosen as target participant (in this study the target participants were sisters of children with Down syndrome) and the child were used. For the intervention, the researcher chose four games that can be used to stimulate children's language and worked with the target participants behaviors that during the games stimulate the language of these children. The recordings were made in the participants’ homes and check the intervention results a multiple probe design was applied. As for the results it was found that there was a change in target participants behavior after intervention and it was observed that there were significant improvements in children receptive and expressive language. In addition, the researcher acted as mediator providing information, guidance and helping these families in relation to school aspects and SD - demonstrating the importance of mediation in family Empowerment.