Referential communication in Fragile-X syndrome

Language profile of fragile-X syndrome individuals looks like the one of Down syndrome individuals, except for phonological and pragmatic abilities. If the pragmatic aspect of language is relatively preserve in Down syndrome, it is one of the most impaired language component in fragile-X syndrome. One aspect of the pragmatic component of language remains almost unexplored in this pathology : the common ground management and the organization of the old and the new information in conversation.
Sample : 4 fragile-X boys aged from 6 to 12 years-old and 4 typically developing children matched on the lexical age
Tasks : 6 referential communication tasks proposed to children both in speaker condition and in listener condition. Tasks were distributed in two groups : 1] building tasks, and 2] combination tasks.
Groups of 2 boys work together on referential communication tasks.
In simple situations FXS boys can be as efficient speakers and listeners as typically developing children.
Difficulties mainly appear when FXS boys have to deal with spatial and ordinal attributes.
FXS boys manage less efficiently with an incomplete message especially when it is given by an adult.
In FXS syndrome, the efficiency of communication mainly depends of the nature of the items attributes to communicate. Spatial information implies the mastery of vocabulary and concepts which seems to be deficient in several etiologies of mental retardation including FXS boys. Ordinal information implies the manipulation of information that are intrinsically more demanding than nominal dimensions because they are inherently relational.