A Randomized Trial of the Digital Down Syndrome LanguagePlus (DSL+) Vocabulary Intervention Program.

Academic Journal

Remedial & Special Education. Oct2022, Vol. 43 Issue 5, p314-327. 14p.

*CLUSTER sampling
*SPEECH therapy
*CONFIDENCE intervals
*DOWN syndrome
*TREATMENT effectiveness
*RANDOMIZED controlled trials
*PRE-tests & post-tests
*VOCABULARY
*SCHOOLS
*ANALYSIS of covariance
*DESCRIPTIVE statistics
*RESEARCH funding
*STATISTICAL sampling
*LANGUAGE disorders in children

This study investigated the effect of the digital Down Syndrome LanguagePlus (DSL+) intervention on vocabulary outcomes through a school-delivered randomized controlled trial. A national sample of first graders with Down syndrome from 91 schools was allocated to an intervention group (n = 50), which received daily intervention for 15 weeks, or a business-as-usual control group (n = 53). The intervention involved picture book sharing and structured tasks and was organized as one-to-one, small-group, and full-class lessons. Children in the intervention group made greater gains than children in the control group in expressive vocabulary breadth (d =.429, CI [.160,.699]) and receptive vocabulary breadth (d =.447, CI [.193,.700]). The outcomes indicate that the novel DSL+ intervention is an effective intervention to increase trained vocabulary among first graders with Down syndrome, and it takes only 15 minutes of effort 5 days a week. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]