When compared with typically developing children, those with Down syndrome exhibit delays in all developmental domains. During early childhood, the development of children with Down syndrome occurs similarly to typically developing children but at a slower pace. Children with Down syndrome show delays in cognitive, language, and personal-social development areas. These delays may not be very noticeable in the early stages of life. However, they become more apparent as the child grows, and the gap between them and their peers widens over time.
Cognitive Development in Children with Down Syndrome
Due to the inadequacies in the neurological systems of children with Down syndrome affecting their mental processes, various developmental processes such as their movements, perception of their surroundings, communication with people around them, learning, vocalisations, coordination, and speech can be negatively impacted. Although some children with Down syndrome may appear more passive, relaxed, indifferent to their surroundings, quiet, or excessively irritable compared to typically developing babies, the majority are not significantly different from other babies in their first months of life.
The cognitive development of babies with Down syndrome follows the same sequence as typically developing children, but their developmental rates are slower and delayed compared to their peers. While this delay may be less severe in some children, it can be much more pronounced in others. Physical development (such as growth in height, weight gain, etc.) of a newborn with Down syndrome with conditions like feeding difficulties, thyroid or growth hormone deficiency, severe heart problems, and similar issues is also slower than expected. This slow growth adversely affects the achievements in the developmental process of a child with Down syndrome. Issues such as having a problem with vision and hearing that go unnoticed and delays in treatment also contribute to learning difficulties.
Language Development in Children with Down Syndrome
The speech and language development of babies with Down syndrome typically show delays from the early years of life. This delay can be due to hearing loss, hypotonia (muscle weakness) in the mouth and tongue muscles, and the effect of the child’s cognitive development. Studies show that babies with Down syndrome are most behind in the language area and that their delay in this area is related to the language-related characteristics of their environment. Typically developing children begin to understand the relationships between words by the end of the second year, while this process occurs much later in children with Down syndrome. Normally developing babies increase the sounds they make around the 3rd or 4th month, then decrease them because they pay more attention to their surroundings and what is being said rather than speaking. Babies with Down syndrome start making sounds later, and since they do not listen to or pay attention to what is being said in the environment, there is no decrease in the sounds they make, and this decrease is observed later. Muscle weakness can also affect a child’s feeding and speech skills. Since the same muscles (facial, mouth, shoulder, and trunk muscles) are used in speaking and eating, muscle weakness makes it difficult to shape words and rotate food in the mouth. Weakness in trunk muscles can also create difficulties in providing necessary support for breathing during speech.
Personal and Social Development in Children with Down Syndrome
The child’s first communication with those around them usually occurs through crying. Studies show that the crying of babies with Down syndrome is both quantitatively and qualitatively different from that of other children, as they cry longer, whine more, and make fewer sounds than typically developing children. Babies with Down syndrome are sometimes referred to as obedient babies because they cry less until the sixth month, which results in less interaction with adults. Although delayed in proportion to their performance, babies with Down syndrome respond to speech by smiling or making sounds, indicating that they want to be picked up, enjoy fun games, and scream to get the attention of others, just like other children. Studies have shown that problems such as heart disease and muscle weakness seen in children with Down syndrome negatively affect their acquisition of self-care skills. When given the opportunity and appropriate education, they can acquire independent living skills and lead less dependent lives. Among intellectually disabled groups, it is known that children with Down syndrome are more social, happy, affectionate, and smiley compared to others.
Generally, children with Down syndrome are described as cheerful, sympathetic, affectionate, social, lively, happy, and able to establish good relationships with their surroundings. However, emotional and behavioural problems can also be encountered in these children. These problems are more frequent compared to typically developing children but less frequent compared to groups diagnosed with intellectual disabilities for other reasons. In addition to attention deficit and problem-solving deficiencies, some problems such as hyperactivity and stereotypic behaviour can also be encountered. These behaviours can be prevented or minimised with appropriate Barental approaches before emerging or settling during early childhood.
