Communication difficulties in children with learning disabilities aged 3-14 years having Down’s syndrome at Kampala School for the Physically Handicapped

Abstract

Introduction: In Uganda, Communication difficulties in children with learning disabilities having down syndrome are existent in the communities. These difficulties are among the most common of childhood disabilities, affecting most children in developing countries. Information on the different forms of communication difficulties with learning disabilities are not well known in communities.

Objective: To describe the communication difficulties in children with learning disabilities aged 3-14 years having Down’s syndrome at Kampala school for the physically handicapped. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional quantitative study was carried out at Kampala school for the physically handicapped from February 2020 to August 2022. The sample size was 20 children. The collection tools used were Peabody Vocabulary Test(PVT) and Expressive Vocabulary test(EVT) to assess for receptive and expressive communication respectively ,Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation second edition(GFTA-2) sounds in words subtest to assess for phonological accuracy, Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale (ADOS) to assess for morphosyntax, While dyscalculia was assessed by using; range of counting and recognition tasks that measure number familiarity(counting aloud from 1 to 20 and again backwards from 20,dyslexia assessed by test of word reading efficacy (TOWRE), and dysgraphia assessed by a text copying task; copying list of objects in a bedroom, the number of errors in the text composition are then noted.

Results: In this study, it was found that majority of the respondents a percentage of 70(%) were able to identify and read few words having their maximum range in between (0-10) words while only 30% were able to identify and read more words having their maximum range in between (11-30). Also majority of the respondents ,a percentage of (65%) were able to count with their maximum in between ranges of numbers (0-10) while only 35% were able to count with their maximum in between numbers (11-20). More than 50% of respondents presented with writing characteristics of Dysgraphia. Also more than half of 20 respondents were able to form morphosyntax but with less complexity. 50% respondents articulated the words incorrectly. that 80% of the respondents identified number of items with their maximum lying within ranges of (11-20)items. majority of the respondents 40 % were able to describe a number of activities with their maximum range lying within (6-10)activities.

Conclusion and recommendation: According to the study, It was evident that the communication difficulties that affect children aged 3-14 years having down syndrome at Kampala School for the Physically Handicapped were receptive and communication difficulties ,shorter utterances with poor morphosyntantic abilities and phonological developmental delay, The Learning Disabilities in children aged 3-14 years having down syndrome at Kampala School for the Physically Handicapped included Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia and Dyslexia. More skilled manpower especially speech and language therapists, d other multidisciplinary school team profession should be trained and also deployed in schools and in all other where children having communication difficulties with learning disabilities are so that they can be helped. Government of Uganda should put SLT at the bench mark, by endorsing provision of SLT services at every National Regional Referral hospitals so as to make it easy to access all across the Nation.