Prelinguistic phonetic contingency: Data from Down syndrome

Abstract

Maternal contingent responding may be an important factor in facilitating the language development of both normally developing and various at-risk populations. However, the majority of recent work has failed to differentiate phonetic from semantic contingency. Data from a longitudinal study illustrate differences in maternal contingent response patterns to children with and without Down syndrome, and suggest an important role for maternal phonetic contingency in lan guage development, especially during the prelinguistic period. © 1989, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.