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Developmental disorders spotlighted

Children with Down syndrome, autism and other developmental disorders need special help in a timely manner to help them optimize their speech capabilities, conference organizers said yesterday.

Although the two-day conference, which concludes today, is organized by the Down Syndrome Foundation, experts from Taiwan and Japan also talked about other developmentally disabled children, especially those with Asperger's syndrome.

One in 800 children are born with Down syndrome in Taiwan, while two in 100 are diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, organizers said.

The conference was attended mostly by parents and educators working with developmentally disabled children.

"There are physical as well as psychological development issues that make it hard for kids with Down syndrome to communicate," said Lin Pei-hui (凌佩慧), who has worked at a daycare center for over a decade with developmentally disabled children, mostly with Down syndrome.

"Their jaws and chins are often underdeveloped, making it hard for them to talk intelligibly," Lin said.

Lin said that she uses therapeutic exercises such as massage and asks children to blow outwards in order to strengthen the jaw muscles.

"Of course it can be very frustrating for them not to be able to express what they want," Lin said.

Liao Chieh-ru (廖婕洳), who has a five-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, said that her daughter's speech impediment contributes to behavioral problems.

"She has a temper, and it is hard for her to be obedient," Liao said. "Sometimes she gets angry when we cannot understand what she is trying to say."

"Some of the problems relate to her underdeveloped jaw, which makes it difficult to enunciate," Liao said. "But she will also mix up the word order and say things such as `drink, I want.'"

Liao said she wanted to learn as much as possible at the conference about helping her daughter develop her language abilities.

Su Li-chin (蘇麗卿), the chairperson of the Down Syndrome Foundation, said that the opportunity for educators and parents to hear and learn the latest from experts is all too rare.

"We try to have a conference like this at least every other year," Su said. "But we don't always succeed."

A Taichung session of the conference will take place on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3.
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