PURPOSE: to check the lexical, receptive and expressive performance, of children with DS and compare it with the lexical performance of typically developing children matched for gender and mental age. METHOD: the study included 40 children, 20 with Down syndrome (experimental group - EG), of both genders, with age varying between 36 and 71 months and 20 typically developing children (control group - CG), matched according to gender and mental age (psychological assessment with the New Version of the Stanford-Binet method, adapted by Terman and Merrill) with EG. After the guardians have signed the consent paper, they responded to an interview protocol containing information about the previous life of the subject. The evaluation was made by applying Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), which assesses receptive vocabulary, and Child Language Test ABFW - Vocabulary Part B, which assesses expressive vocabulary. RESULTS: subjects in the EG had underperformed in the GC in the PPVT and in verbal description usual in ABFW, with significant statistical differences. There was a correlation between performance on receptive and expressive vocabulary of both groups. CONCLUSION: it was found that the lexical, receptive and expressive performance, in children with DS is lower than in typically developing children, even when matched as for mental age.
Down Syndrome; Language; Vocabulary
