Inferential language use by school-aged boys with fragile X syndrome

Abstract

This study examined the impact of a distance-delivered parent-implemented narrative language intervention on the use of inferential language during shared storytelling by school-aged boys with fragile X syndrome, an inherited neurodevelopmental disorder. Nineteen school-aged boys with FXS and their biological mothers participated. Dyads were randomly assigned to an intervention or a treatment-as-usual comparison group. Transcripts from all pre- and post-intervention sessions were coded for child use of prompted and spontaneous inferential language coded into various categories. Children in the intervention group used more utterances that contained inferential language than the comparison group at post-intervention. Furthermore, children in the intervention group used more prompted inferential language than the comparison group at post-intervention, but there were no differences between the groups in their spontaneous use of inferential language. Additionally, children in the intervention group demonstrated increases from pre- to post-intervention in their use of most categories of inferential language. This study provides initial support for the utility of a parent-implemented language intervention for increasing the use of inferential language by school aged boys with FXS, but also suggests the need for additional treatment to encourage spontaneous use.