Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Decision making in children; Developmentally disabled children--Language; Down syndrome;
Abstract
Choice-making is involved in daily aspects of life. The ability to express choices is particularly important to individuals with disabilities for increasing adaptive behavior and enhancing communicative development and autonomy. However, there is a lack of literature relating to the development of choice-making in infants and toddlers. Research has shown that choice-making behaviors develop in the context of other developmental abilities among typically developing children (Lorang, 1995). The primary purpose of this study was to identify which specific developmental abilities emerge concurrently with choice-making behaviors in children with Down syndrome. The current investigator hypothesized that behaviors similar to those of typically developing children would also predict any choice-making among children with Down syndrome. Statistical procedures were used to determine which clusters and parameters of the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales (CSBS) (Wetherby & Prizant, 1993) and which subtests of the Battelle Developmental Inventory (BDI) (Newborg, Stock, & Wnek, 1984) predicted choice-making. A simple regression procedure was completed on components of both assessments which were highly correlated with choice-making. Results indicated that composite scores of both the CSBS and the DFL were predictive of choice making, with the CSBS displaying a higher predictive value than the DFL. This indicated that communicative and symbolic abilities may have been more predictive of choice making than an overall developmental functioning level. The clusters that were most predictive of choice-making were: (a) Verbal Communicative Means, (b) Vocal Communicative Means, (c) Gestural Communicative Means, (d) Adaptive Domain, (e) Symbolic Behavior, and (f) Cognitive Domain. The high predictive value of the Verbal, Vocal, and Gestural Communicative Means clusters relates to the choice making protocol, as the levels of the protocol involved using speech, vocalizations or gestures to express choice. The parameters that were considered most predictive of choice-making were: (a) Gestures+ Vocalizations, (b) Constructive Play, (c) Fine Motor abilities. The high predictive value of the parameter, Gestures+ Vocalizations again relate to the use of these behaviors to express choice based on the choice-making protocol. The current study was intended as a preliminary study. It is recommended that further research be conducted on this population with a larger number of subjects to enhance the ability of the data to be generalized.
Year of Submission
1997
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of Communicative Disorders
First Advisor
Clifford L. Highnam
Second Advisor
Kenneth M. Bleile
Third Advisor
Jack B. Yates
Date Original
1997
Object Description
1 PDF file (127 leaves)
Copyright
©1997 Amy Rebecca Bond
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Bond, Amy Rebecca, "The Development of Choice-Making in Infants and Toddlers with Down Syndrome" (1997). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2118.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2118
Comments
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