Prader-Willi syndrome(PWS) is a multisystem disorder related to thalamic insufficiency caused by the abnormality of the chromosome 15. It causes developmental language delay and mild to moderate severities of articulation problems. However, no study h...
Prader-Willi syndrome(PWS) is a multisystem disorder related to thalamic insufficiency caused by the abnormality of the chromosome 15. It causes developmental language delay and mild to moderate severities of articulation problems. However, no study has investigated the articulation characteristics in Korean children with PWS. Therefore, this study examines the difference between typical developmental children and PWS children in the following areas: phonetic inventory, degree of correct consonants usage, error type rate, and phonological process. Twelve children whose expressive language ability range between 3 and 4 -year-old were chosen as the sample for each group, and picture naming tests were carried out.1) All children with PWS could not pronounce ㅈ(tɕ), ㅊ(tɕh), ㅉ(tɕ*),ㅅ(s),ㅆ(s*), and ㄹ(l) when placed in syllable initial position of words. They could not pronounce ㄱ(k), ㅁ(m), and ㄹ(l) when placing in syllable final position in words. It was the 3-year-olds of the typical developmental children who showed the similar results to the above.2) The 3-year-old children with PWS showed significantly lower performance in the following areas than the 3-year-olds of typical developmental children : The number of correct consonants in total, dependent on word position, velar consonant, and plosive consonant. Regarding 4-year-old children, they showed significantly lower performance in the following areas : total number of correct consonants used, the word medial syllable initial phonemes, and the plosive consonants correct rate. 3) All children with PWS showed significantly lower substitution errors yet significantly higher distortion errors. Although final consonant deletion, alveolarization, stopping, and nasalization were high in phonological process errors in both groups, children with PWS showed a greater variety and a higher frequency of phonological process errors.The articulation of the younger children with PWS showed a smaller phonetic inventory, a lower degree of correct consonant usage, a higher distortion error rate, and a greater variety and higher frequency of phonological process errors. These characteristics reduced with age and thereafter followed the articulation characteristics of typical developmental children. However, this finding cannot be generalized due to the small sample size. Future research needs to be conducted with a larger sample in number and a more extensive age range.