Eastern Illinois University The Keep Masters Theses Student Theses & Publications 1998 Parent Perceptions of Speech and Language Characteristics of Children with Fragile X Syndrome Trina Marie Ungrund Eastern Illinois University This research is a product of the graduate program in Communication Disorders and Sciences at Eastern Illinois University. Find out more about the program. Recommended Citation Ungrund, Trina Marie, "Parent Perceptions of Speech and Language Characteristics of Children with Fragile X Syndrome" (1998). Masters Theses. 1703. https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/1703 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses & Publications at The Keep. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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Date I respectfully request Booth Library of Eastern Illinois University NOT allow my thesis to ! be reproduced because: Author's Signature Date lhasis4.fonn Parent Perceptions of Speech and Language Characteristics of Children with Fragile X Syndrome (TITLE) BY Trina Marie Ungrund THESIS SUBMII IED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS AND SCIENCES, EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY CHARLESTON, ILLINOIS 1998 YEAR I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THIS THESIS BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING nns PART OF THE GRADUATE DEGREE CITED ABOVE J-d1-./9'7f DATE 1 8- 2 l-1 tl r; [ DATE I ~/Ji/j c( DATE DATE Parent Perceptions of Speech Language Characteristics of Children with Fragile X Syndrome (TITLE) BY Trina Marie Ungrund THESIS SUBMITIED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master'"of Science IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL, EASTERN ILUNOIS UNIVERSITY CHARLESTON. ILLINOIS 1998 YEAR I HEREBY RECOMMEND THIS THESIS BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE GRADUATE DEGREE CITED ABOVE Running head: FRAGILE X SYNDROME SPEECH CHARACTERISTICS Parent Perceptions of Speech and Language Characteristics of Children with Fragile X Syndrome Trina M. Ungrund Eastern Illinois University Abstract Children with Fragile X syndrome (FXS) have significant speech/language difficulties. Additional information is needed regarding the demographics and speech/language characteristics of this population. Participants in this study were parents of children with FXS. Contact persons for three FXS support groups were notified of this study and were asked to provide surveys to parents of children with FXS. The survey was completed by 50 parents of children with FXS who answered questions concerning their child's demographics and speech/language characteristics. Information on speech/language characteristics was gathered through use of a severity rating scale. This severity rating scale was used to rate the severity of 15 speech/language characteristics as occurring never, occasionally, or frequently. Analysis of these speech/language characteristics, according to age of diagnosis, suggested that it is important to diagnose a child with FXS as soon as possible. When assessing a child with FXS it is important to look at the child's age and the presence of additional diagnoses of autism and/or ADD/ADHD as they have an impact on the type and degree of severity of speech/language difficulties a child with FXS displays. Use of a severity rating scale and a checklist of speech/language characteristics may supplement standardized testing of children with FXS. Parents play an important role in gathering information on their child's speech/language behaviors, as they can provide information · about their child across all settings. -111- Acknowledgments I would like to thank the members of my thesis committee, Frank Goldacker and Richard Jacques. I appreciate all of the time and effort that you spent in order to give me the best advice possible. You played a key role in making my thesis a success. I would also like to express my deep appreciation to Dr. Brenda Wilson for her patience and wisdom. I especially appreciate all of the assistance with the statistical analyses. In addition, I would like to thank her for her positive attitude and encouragement. Without her, this thesis would not have been possible. I am forever grateful for my fiance, Matt, and my family. Their unconditional love and support throughout graduate school and especially the development of this thesis is greatly appreciated. I truly could not have done it without them. -IV- Table of Contents CHAPTER Abstract. .......................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ......................................................................... iv List ofTables .................................................................................viii List of Figures ................................................................................. ix I Introduction ...................................................................................... 1 II Literature Review ............................................................................. 3 Genetics ............................................................................................ 3 Salient Features ................................................................................ 4 Mental Retardation ....................................................................... 4 Physical Characteristics ............................................................... .4 Behavioral Characteristics ........................................................... 5 Communication Problems ............................................................ 5 Speech Characteristics ...................................................................... 8 Intelligibility................................................................................. 8 Articulation errors ................................................................ 9 Deviant prosody ....................................................................9 Marked disfluencies ........................................................... 10 Voice differences ................................................................ 11 Language Characteristics ............................................................... .11 -lV- Pragmatics .................................................................................. 12 Grammar..................................................................................... 13 Related Disorders ........................................................................... 14 Autism ........................................................................................ 14 Parental Report ............................................................................... 16 Purpose of This Study.................................................................... .18 · Research Questions ........................................................................ .19 III Method........................................................................................... 20 Part1c1pants ..................................................................................... 20 Survey Instrument. ......................................................................... 20 IV Results .......................................................................................... :.22 Research Question 1....................................................................... 22 Research Question 2 .......................................................................27 Most Frequently Occurring Speech/language Characteristic ..... 28 Most frequently occurring speech/language characteristic of pre-school vs. school age ................................... 30 Most frequently occurring speech/language characteristic according to group membership ............................. 32 Cumulative Severity Ratings ...................................................... .33 Males vs. females ............................................................... 34 Pre-school vs. school age ................................................... 34 -v- Diagnosis during pre-school vs. school age ....................... 35 Age of diagnosis according to group membership ............. 36 Summary........................................................................................ 37 Demographics ............................................................................ .3 7 Frequently Occurring Speech/language Characteristics and Cumulative Severity Ratings ................................................. .3 7 V Discussion......................... ~····························································39 Factors Related to Diagnosis .......................................................... 39 Age ............................................................................................