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Background: Maternal input plays an important role in influencing linguistic development during the first years of life, and it is evident that mothers adapt their language according to their child's characteristics. Recently, it was demonstrated that maternal input addressed to children with sex chromosome trisomies (SCTs) at 8 months of age is prosodically and functionally different from that addressed to typically developing (TD) peers. Aims: The study aimed at analysing maternal input at 24 months when the presence of a language delay could be more evident than during the preverbal stage. We were interested in examining if maternal input was influenced by a diagnosis of SCT (by comparing children with SCT and TD children) or by children's linguistic level (by comparing children with weak lexical ability versus children with typical lexical ability regardless of the presence of genetic diagnosis). Methods and Procedures: Forty-four mother–child dyads in which the children had an SCT and 20 mother–child dyads in which the children were TD participated in the study. Of these 64 dyads, 23 children (21 with SCTs and two TD children) formed the group of children with weak lexical ability (children with a vocabulary size lower than 50 words at 24 months). Maternal utterances were collected during one video-recorded play session and were then coded considering both the linguistic and functional features of the input. Outcomes and Results: The results showed that the input addressed to 24-month-old children with SCTs is as rich and complex as that addressed to TD peers. Moreover, no significant differences in the functions expressed by maternal input were found (all ps > 0.05). Comparing the children with weak lexical ability and the children with typical lexical ability in our sample, having a poor vocabulary at 24 months of age showed a significant influence on the maternal input features: the input addressed to children with weak lexical ability was characterised b

Although language delays are common in children with sex chromosome trisomies [SCT], no studies have analysed their prosodic abilities. Considering the importance of prosody in communication, this exploratory study aims to analyse the prosodic features of the narratives of 4-year-old children with SCT. Participants included 22 children with SCT and 22 typically developing [TD] children. The Narrative Competence Task was administered to elicit the child's narrative. Each utterance was prosodically analysed considering pitch and timing variables. Considering pitch, the only difference was the number of movements since the utterances of children with SCT were characterised by a lower speech modulation. However, considering the timing variables, children with SCT produced a faster speech rate and a shorter final syllable duration than TD children. Since both speech modulation and duration measures have important syntactic and pragmatic functions, further investigations should deeply analyse the prosodic skills of children with SCT in interaction with syntax and pragmatics.

Background: There is a growing interest in exploring parents' views on the benefits of early diagnosis and awareness of sex chromosome trisomies. However, only a few studies focus specifically on the experience of parents of children with XYY syndrome. The present study aimed to assess, in parents of individuals with XYY, the perceived severity of their children's condition, their level of satisfaction with the disclosure process and their concerns about their children's present and future condition. Methods: A national online sample of 56 Italian parents of children and young adults diagnosed with XYY syndrome participated in the study. They filled out a specifically developed online survey that assessed their children's areas of concern, their experience with the disclosure process and their worries about their children's condition. Results: Seventy per cent of the parents received a prenatal diagnosis, whereas 30% received a postnatal diagnosis. High individual variability was found in the parent report of their child's condition. The most frequent areas of concern were attention regulation, emotion control and behaviour control. Individuals with a postnatal diagnosis showed more severe profiles. Parents were generally dissatisfied with the disclosure process, with no differences between prenatal and postnatal disclosure. However, more than 50% of the parents who received a prenatal disclosure reported that their child's condition was less severe than they had expected. In contrast, only 11% of the parents with postnatal disclosure reported this situation. Parents' concerns were negatively related to global satisfaction with the disclosure process and the correspondence between current and expected conditions but positively associated with the child's severity level. Conclusions: The results suggest that clear and realistic information during the disclosure process to parents is needed in both prenatal and postnatal communication and may alleviate parents' concer

Only a few studies, mainly qualitative thematic analyses of interviews, have dealt with the psychological experience of parents of children and adolescents with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a rare genetic syndrome involving skeletal fragility and increased exposure to bone fractures. The aim of the present study was to evaluate both negative (i.e., parental burden and parenting stress) and positive (i.e., coping strategies and perceived social support) experiences of parents related to their children’s disease and behaviour. The participants were 34 parents of children and adolescents with OI who completed a specifically developed online survey assessing their psychological experience with caregiving, their perception of the severity level of their children’s condition and any possible behavioural problems experienced by their children. Data analyses showed that 65% of the parents showed a clinical level of caregiver burden and nearly 30% a clinical level of parenting stress. Caregiver burden was related to the perceived severity level of the condition and the externalising problems shown by their children. Concerning the positive aspects of the parents’ experience, a high level of perceived social support was connected to a lower level of parenting stress; the same did not happen for caregiver burden. Coping strategies were connected to stress and burden; in particular, a higher level of stress corresponded to a higher level of avoidance, and a higher level of burden corresponded to a higher level of positive attitude.

Background: Maternal input plays an important role in influencing linguistic development during the first years of life, and it is evident that mothers adapt their language according to their child's characteristics. Recently, it was demonstrated that maternal input addressed to children with sex chromosome trisomies (SCTs) at 8 months of age is prosodically and functionally different from that addressed to typically developing (TD) peers.Aims: The study aimed at analysing maternal input at 24 months when the presence of a language delay could be more evident than during the preverbal stage. We were interested in examining if maternal input was influenced by a diagnosis of SCT (by comparing children with SCT and TD children) or by children's linguistic level (by comparing children with weak lexical ability versus children with typical lexical ability regardless of the presence of genetic diagnosis).Methods and Procedures: Forty-four mother-child dyads in which the children had an SCT and 20 mother-child dyads in which the children were TD participated in the study. Of these 64 dyads, 23 children (21 with SCTs and two TD children) formed the group of children with weak lexical ability (children with a vocabulary size lower than 50 words at 24 months). Maternal utterances were collected during one video-recorded play session and were then coded considering both the linguistic and functional features of the input.Outcomes and Results: The results showed that the input addressed to 24-month-old children with SCTs is as rich and complex as that addressed to TD peers. Moreover, no significant differences in the functions expressed by maternal input were found (all ps > 0.05). Comparing the children with weak lexical ability and the children with typical lexical ability in our sample, having a poor vocabulary at 24 months of age showed a significant influence on the maternal input features: the input addressed to children with weak lexical ability was characterised by a

Purpose: This study aimed to describe speech sound development in a group of 18-month-old children with sex chromosome trisomies (SCTs), compared with a group of typically developing (TD) peers. Concurrent and longitudinal relationships between speech sound abilities and lexical development were examined. Method: A group of 76 children aged 18 months, 38 children prenatally diagnosed with SCTs (12 with XXY, 12 with XYY, and 14 with XXX) and 38 TD chil-dren, participated in the study. From video recordings of semistructured natural-istic parent–child play sessions, quantitative and qualitative measures of speech sound development were collected (e.g., the number of consonants, type and place of articulation, and syllable structures used), and group differences were observed. The relationships between the number of consonants produced and vocabulary size at 18 and 24 months were assessed. Results: At 18 months, children with SCTs used a significantly lower number of consonants than TD children. Qualitatively, children with SCTs used significantly fewer articulatory complex consonants (fricative/affricates) and a more restricted inventory of syllable structures. The number of consonants used was significantly correlated with lexical development at 18 months. Moreover, in the SCTs group (but not in the TD group), the children with lower speech sound development at 18 months showed a significantly smaller vocabulary growth between 18 and 24 months than those with higher speech-sound development. Conclusions: Toddlers with SCTs showed a significantly delayed speech sound development pattern rather than an atypical one. Children with SCTs with low speech sound development also showed lower vocabulary growth between 18 and 24 months of age. These results can be clinically relevant for follow-up and treatment planning for children with SCTs.

The Preschool Self-Regulation Questionnaire (Questionario di Valutazione dell'Autoregolazione [QUVA-p]) is a teacher-completed screening tool for assessing child dysregulation at preschool age. This study presents the psychometric properties of the questionnaire, which was investigated in a sample of 413 preschoolers. We tested for construct validity, measurement invariance across gender, subscale internal consistency, subscale convergent validity with executive control tasks (working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility), and power to detect child differences in executive control. Results show that the factorial structure of the QUVA-p is in line with Nigg's theoretical model of self-regulation and the subscales have good reliability. Measurement invariance is maintained across gender; the instrument reveals small but significant associations with executive control tasks, and it could be useful to detect child differences in executive control.

Background: The neuropsychological profile of children with sex chromosome trisomies [SCTs] is frequently characterised by delays and impairments in language development. However, no studies so far have specifically investigated their narrative competence. Aims: The aim of the study was to analyse the oral narrative competence of preschool children with SCTs due to the importance of this skill for language development and learning abilities. Methods and procedures: Participants were 34 Italian children with SCTs one-to-one matched by age and sex to typically developing [TD] children. A storytelling task, the Narrative Competence Task, was used to assess the macrostructural and microstructural features of the children's narratives. Outcomes and results: Children with SCTs showed significantly lower scores than TD peers in all the narrative indices considered, except for mental state lexicon and story length in words. Conclusions and implications: The problems found in narrative competence confirmed the existence of difficulties in the language development of children with SCTs. Narrative difficulties could affect these children's future learning skills and academic achievements.

The neuropsychological profile associated with sex chromosome trisomies (SCT) is frequently characterised by delays or deficits in linguistic development. Although maternal input could have an important role in influencing and shaping the linguistic development of children with SCT, there is a lack of studies in the literature that have investigated its prosodic characteristics. The study aims to analyse the prosodic features of the maternal input addressed to a group of 8-month-old children with SCT and a group of typically developing (TD) peers. Nineteen mother–child dyads with children with SCT and 19 mother–child dyads with TD children participated in the study. Maternal utterances were collected during video-recorded play sessions, and for each dyad, 50 maternal utterances were selected and analysed using the software Praat. The results showed that the maternal input produced by the mothers in the SCT group was characterised by a significantly lower pitch, less marked and modulated melodic contours, and a shorter final syllable duration than the input addressed to TD children. The prosodic features found in the maternal input addressed to children with SCT were not those expected in the maternal input addressed to children at this developmental stage and could create a non-optimal linguistic environment.

The development of prosody covers a long age period, with some functions not well-mastered till adolescence. Moreover, languages show different prosodic developmental trajectories, which can be related to their distinctive characteristics. The Profiling Elements of Prosody in Speech-Communication (PEPS-C) consists of a battery of tasks developed to analyse this competence in both comprehension and expression. It takes into account several prosodic functions (including both affective and linguistic functions). Easy to administer and to score, it has demonstrated its usefulness in the evaluation of prosodic competence from preschool age and in several languages. The main aim of the present work is to investigate the development of prosodic competence in a group of Italian children from four to ten years of age through the administration of the Italian version of the PEPS-C. The results confirm that prosodic development covers a long age period for Italian too: indeed, while the affective function of prosody seemed to be well-mastered from the preschool period, other functions, like use of the prosodic focus, are not well-mastered till late, after the age of ten years. The developmental trajectories found are discussed in relation to those found for languages other than Italian.

Many individual factors, such as early communicative skills, could play a role in explaining later linguistic outcomes. The detection of predictive variables is fundamental to identifying early the children who need intervention. The present study focuses on children with sex chromosome trisomies (SCTs), genetic conditions with an increased risk of developing language delays or impair-ments. The aims are to analyse their communicative skills at 18 months of age, and identify significant predictors of their later vocabulary size. Participants were 76 18-month-old children (38 with SCTs, and 38 typically-developing (TD) children). Their communicative skills were assessed during a parent–child play session, and parents filled in a report on their vocabulary development at 18 and 24 months. Children with SCTs showed significantly poorer linguistic skills at 18 months in both preverbal (babbling and gestures) and verbal abilities. A high percentage (nearly 70%) of toddlers with SCTs were late-talking children at 24 months, and those toddlers showed a lower frequency of babbling utterances at 18 months. Early lexical skills, children’s developmental quotient, and being part of the group of toddlers with SCTs were significant predictors of children’s vocabulary size six months later. These variables should be considered when assessing the linguistic competence of a child with SCTs to detect possible early risk factors of future language impairment.

The parents of 413 children with typical development (TD) or special educational needs (SEN) filled in an online survey to investigate the associations between the restrictions introduced to face COVID-19 and parenting stress and parental disciplinary practices. The parents of children with SEN showed a significantly higher stress level than TD children's parents. However, they showed a lower inclination to overreact. In both groups, the parents who feel less supported, feel their needs threatened, and report having a child with more difficulties were more likely to exhibit parenting stress. Data on the associations between COVID-19 restrictions and the stress perceived by parents could help to focus the attention of the public health system on their parents' needs, leading to practices aimed to prevent parenting stress and burnout.

Executive functions (EFs) and narrative competence (NC) are two important predictors of many outcomes in human development. To date, however, it is unclear whether these skills develop synergistically—supporting or opposing each other—or whether they are independent of each other. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to understand if these skills are related to over development and if the magnitude of their association changes over time; differs in typical and atypical development; and changes with EF (inhibition, working memory, flexibility, planning) and NC (oral, written; micro and macrostructural level). For this purpose, 30 studies containing 285 effect sizes were selected and combined. The results show that EFs and NC are weakly associated with each other (r = 0.236, p < 0.001) and that this association decreases with age (b(267) = −0.0144, p = 0.001). They are more associated in preschool and early elementary school grades, becoming more independent after seven years old. Between 3 and 7 years of age, the association seems stronger in atypically developing children and for macrostructural NC. Additionally, before 7 years old, the various EF domains seem to associate indistinctly with NC, and only later specific links between EFs and NC would be observed.

Purpose: The study aims to describe the developmental profile of children and young adults with Alexander disease [AxD] infantile form, analyzing their clinical features, adaptive behavior and neuropsychological skills. Methods: Participants were eight children or young adults (Mean age = 11 years; SD = 6.86; range = 5–23) and their parents. A multi-method approach was adopted to assess participant competencies: (1) an online parent survey, (2) a semi-structured interview with parents, and (3) a direct assessment of the participant’s neuropsychological skills. Results: Only four parents and their children completed all measures, and a common developmental profile could not be identified. The participants experienced substantial impairment in gross-motor skills, memory and narrative macrostructure. Most parents reported a regressive trend in at least one area. Conclusions: The high individual variability and the regressive trend highlight the need for an accurate and periodic assessment of each individual’s developmental profile.

Purpose: This study aimed to describe speech sound development in a group of 18-month-old children with sex chromosome trisomies (SCTs), compared with a group of typically developing (TD) peers. Concurrent and longitudinal relationships between speech sound abilities and lexical development were examined. Method: A group of 76 children aged 18 months, 38 children prenatally diagnosed with SCTs (12 with XXY, 12 with XYY, and 14 with XXX) and 38 TD chil-dren, participated in the study. From video recordings of semistructured natural-istic parent–child play sessions, quantitative and qualitative measures of speech sound development were collected (e.g., the number of consonants, type and place of articulation, and syllable structures used), and group differences were observed. The relationships between the number of consonants produced and vocabulary size at 18 and 24 months were assessed. Results: At 18 months, children with SCTs used a significantly lower number of consonants than TD children. Qualitatively, children with SCTs used significantly fewer articulatory complex consonants (fricative/affricates) and a more restricted inventory of syllable structures. The number of consonants used was significantly correlated with lexical development at 18 months. Moreover, in the SCTs group (but not in the TD group), the children with lower speech sound development at 18 months showed a significantly smaller vocabulary growth between 18 and 24 months than those with higher speech-sound development. Conclusions: Toddlers with SCTs showed a significantly delayed speech sound development pattern rather than an atypical one. Children with SCTs with low speech sound development also showed lower vocabulary growth between 18 and 24 months of age. These results can be clinically relevant for follow-up and treatment planning for children with SCTs.

We describe the first case of bridge therapy in alpha-mannosidosis (AM) in an infant diagnosed at only 5 months of life who underwent enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) in the pre- and peri-transplant phases. Eight ERT infusions were administered before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and continued for additional 90 days until complete engraftment. The clinical and laboratory data after 3 years post-HSCT show that the early combined intervention may reduce the disease progression and the urine and plasma content of mannosyl-oligosaccharides (OS) monitored by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). This report highlights that early diagnosis and prompt initiation of such treatments in AM are the best chance to minimize the progression of symptoms.

Purpose: The study aims to describe the developmental profile of children and young adults with Alexander disease [AxD] infantile form, analyzing their clinical features, adaptive behavior and neuropsychological skills. Methods: Participants were eight children or young adults (Mean age = 11 years; SD = 6.86; range = 5–23) and their parents. A multi-method approach was adopted to assess participant competencies: (1) an online parent survey, (2) a semi-structured interview with parents, and (3) a direct assessment of the participant’s neuropsychological skills. Results: Only four parents and their children completed all measures, and a common developmental profile could not be identified. The participants experienced substantial impairment in gross-motor skills, memory and narrative macrostructure. Most parents reported a regressive trend in at least one area. Conclusions: The high individual variability and the regressive trend highlight the need for an accurate and periodic assessment of each individual’s developmental profile.

This paper describes an experience linked to a gender-sensitive university orientation project for young men and women. In particular, the contribution intends to offer some meta-reflections following the reformulation of the project itself during the COVID-19 pandemic. The contribution is developed starting from the project «Piano Lauree Scientifiche» (PLS – Plan for Scientific Degrees) in collaboration with ABCD Interdepartmental Center for Gender Studies of the University of Milan-Bicocca. The project initially envisaged the involvement of some high school students in a preliminary focus group phase to collect suggestions and points of view about their future projects. The pandemic completely reversed plans in several moments: it was no longer possible to meet students in schools. Therefore, the study was based on focus groups aimed at university students who should have followed double interviews to be carried out in person. The worsening of the pandemic situation led then to online interviews rather than face to face interviews. This article aims to highlight this experience to inform future research and encourage flexibility and reflexivity in research. It is hoped that this article can be helpful to develop cross-cultural qualitative methodology and expand upon the emerging field of literature surrounding video conferencing qualitative research, first of all those regarding the link between gender and university orientation.

This work presents an analysis of the intonation competence in a group of Italian children with cochlear implant (CI). Early cochlear implantation plays a crucial role in language development for children who were born deaf in that it favours the acquisition of complex aspects of language, such as the intonation structure. A story-generation task, the Narrative Competence Task, was used to elicit children’s stories. Narrations produced by 8 early implanted children and by 16 children with typically hearing (TH) (8 one-to-one matched considering the chronological age, TH-CA, and 8 considering the hearing age, TH-HA) were analysed considering intonation features (pitch accent distribution, edge tones and inner breaks). Results show that children with CI produce intonation patterns that are similar to those of both TH-CA and TH-HA control groups. Few significant differences were found only between children with CI and children matched for TH-HA in the use of rising edge tones. These results are discussed in light of the role of cognitive development in using prosody and intonation and the importance of early CI implantation. This study shows for the first time that intonation use of early implanted children is not different from that of typically developing children with the same chronological age.

Individuals with sex chromosome trisomies (SCTs) have an increased risk of language delays and impairments. However, there are only a few data relative to their language development in early childhood. The present study aimed to investigate the preverbal skills shown by a group of 8-month-old children with SCTs to assess the presence of a possible early communicative delay. Moreover, the predictive role of early preverbal productions on later lexical development at 24 months was analysed. Twenty-six children with SCTs and 24 typically developing (TD) children participated in the study. Their use of vocal productions and gazes addressed to the communicative partner was assessed during a parent–child observation session held when the children were 8 months old. In addition, the children’s word comprehension at 8 months and their word production at 24 months were indirectly assessed by a parental report. Children’s word comprehension was similar in the two groups of children, whereas a significantly lower frequency per minute of gazes was found in children with SCTs than in TD children. A significantly lower proportion of children with SCTs showed the ability to produce babbling during the observation session, and significant differences were also found in the frequency of babbling utterances. No significant differences emerged among the subgroups of children with different types of SCTs. The predictive role of babbling on later lexical size was found in TD children but not in children with SCTs. This result could be probably explained by the small number of children in this group who could produce babbling utterances. The study leads to identify early signals of delay in the preverbal skills of children with SCTs. Early monitoring of their communicative development could help the clinicians in intervening with well-timed and targeted programmes.

Purpose: Children with Down Syndrome (DS) show difficulties in language development, both in basic and in complex abilities, as narratives. Less is known about the prosodic competence in DS, but the few avaiable studies highlighted the presence of deficits. Considering the importance of narratives and prosody in communication, the main aim of this study is to investigate these two competences in participants with DS. Method: 13 children with DS participated (Mean age: 13;04, years; months). Their narrative and prosodic abilities, collected through a story-telling task, were compared with those of two control groups of typically developing (TD) children, one matched for nonverbal mental age (MA, Mean age: 5;03) and the other matched for the mean length of utterance (MLU, Mean age: 5;05). For the narrative competence, we considered both the macrostructural (i.e., quantity of information and story structure) and the microstructural level (i.e., verbal productivity, lexical diversity, syntactic complexity). For the prosodic competence, we took into account acoustic measures linked to intonation (i.e, mean F0, range, final speech profile and speed of speech). Results: The results of the Mann-Whitney test showed that participants with DS produced stories comparable to those of TD children in nearly all the variables considered, except for the syntactic complexity when compared with children of the same MA. Differences between participants with DS and TD children were found in the f0 and in the final pitch profile used. Conclusions: Considering the small size of the samples, these preliminary results should be taken with caution. Nonetheless, this study confirms the presence of difficulties in the prosody of speech and in the syntactic competence in children with DS. These difficulties could have consequences on the possibility to communicate in an efficient way and should be taken into account in rehabilitation programs.

The present study aimed to analyse the narrative competence of a group of Italian children with a bilateral cochlear implant (CI) implanted before 30 months of age. Participants were ten children with CI (aged from 42 to 83 months) and two control groups of typically hearing children one-to-one paired by sex, non-verbal reasoning, and chronological or hearing age. A story generation task, specifically developed to assess narrative skills in children (i.e., the Narrative Competence Task) was used to evaluate both macrostructural and microstructural features of the children’s narratives. Results showed that children with CI presented only one significant difference in the macrostructural aspects of narratives compared to typically hearing children matched by hearing age, specifically in the higher number of events told. In addition, concerning microstructural features, the only statistically significant difference was a lower lexical variety in the narratives produced by children with CI than in those produced by typically hearing children matched by chronological age. Both macrostructural and microstructural indices appeared to be related to the hearing age of children with CI. Early CI appeared to play a crucial role in the acquisition of a complex area of language development, as narrative competence.

This paper describes an experience linked to a gender-sensitive university orientation project for young men and women. In particular, the contribution intends to offer some meta-reflections following the reformulation of the project itself during the COVID-19 pandemic. The contribution is developed starting from the project «Piano Lauree Scientifiche» (PLS – Plan for Scientific Degrees) in collaboration with ABCD Interdepartmental Center for Gender Studies of the University of Milan-Bicocca. The project initially envisaged the involvement of some high school students in a preliminary focus group phase to collect suggestions and points of view about their future projects. The pandemic completely reversed plans in several moments: it was no longer possible to meet students in schools. Therefore, the study was based on focus groups aimed at university students who should have followed double interviews to be carried out in person. The worsening of the pandemic situation led then to online interviews rather than face to face interviews. This article aims to highlight this experience to inform future research and encourage flexibility and reflexivity in research. It is hoped that this article can be helpful to develop cross-cultural qualitative methodology and expand upon the emerging field of literature surrounding video conferencing qualitative research, first of all those regarding the link between gender and university orientation.

The study investigates the experience of the parents of 48 children who have prenatally diagnosed with Klinefelter syndrome [KS] using a specifically developed questionnaire. Fifty percent of the participants were satisfied with the disclosure process, particularly those who received the diagnosis by an experienced geneticist. One of the aims of genetic and psychological counseling should be showing the advantages of a gradual and early disclosure with their child and underlining the possible advantages and disadvantages of spreading the diagnosis with other people to optimize support and minimize stigmatization.

The oral narratives of 240 Italian children aged 3-8 years were analyzed using a new instrument, the Narrative Competence Task (NCT). The data showed a gradual increase in the children's narrative competence in both the macrostructure and the microstructure. Statistically significant differences between preschool-age and school-age children were found on all the variables considered. In addition to increased chronological age, a significant role of cognitive abilities (general non-verbal intelligence and sequential reasoning) and linguistic skills (mean length of utterance and lexical diversity) emerged in explaining the variance in children's narrative macrostructure. Children with superior cognitive and linguistic abilities produced richer narratives characterized by a greater quantity of information, a better structure, and a wider use of mental state lexicon.

The aim of this chapter is to describe the early developmental pathways of patients with Klinefelter syndrome (KS) and communication good practices, according to the studies of the literature. Behavioural phenotype of this genetic condition is wide and heterogenous for both clinical and neuropsychiatric aspects. The spread of prenatal diagnosis demonstrated that the outcomes are much better than those described in the original literature.

Background: Although language difficulties are one of the most distinctive characteristics of the neuropsychological profile of children with sex chromosome trisomies (SCT), the analysis of the maternal input addressed to them is a neglected topic. Aims: The present study aims to analyse the lexical, morphosyntactic, and functional features of the input addressed to children with SCT comparing them with those of the input directed to typically developing children (TD). Methods & Procedures: Participants were 38 mothers and their 8-month-old children, 19 with SCT and 19 TD children. Maternal utterances, collected during video-recorded play sessions, have been transcribed and coded. Outcomes & Results: No significant differences between groups have been found in the lexical and syntactic characteristics of maternal input. However, considering the input functional features, the proportion of directives and questions was significantly higher in the maternal input addressed to children with SCT than in the input addressed to TD children whereas the opposite pattern was found in the proportion of affect-salient speech. Conclusions & Implications: The awareness of a possible delay in their children's language development could influence the way the mothers speak to them. In particular, the functional features of maternal input could be affected. Support groups for parents of children with SCT at the preverbal stage could be useful to reassure the mothers about their role in their children's language development. What this paper adds What is already known on the subject Studies in the literature identified a high percentage of language delays or impairments in children with SCT. To date, according to our knowledge, there are no studies that analyse the linguistic input addressed to these children. What this study adds The lexical and syntactic features of maternal input addressed to 8-month-old children with SCT are adequate to the children's communicative skills. However

The present study aimed to assess the validity of using a robotic platform (RODDI) to increase and enhance communicative exchanges between educators and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability. Nine children with ASD and intellectual disability and their educators took part in the study. Their communicative exchanges were assessed in two different settings: a normal play session and a RODDI play session. RODDI platform did not appear to enhance communicative exchanges in children with ASD. They produced a significantly lower number of vocal productions to the educators in the RODDI play sessions than in the normal ones. Even the educators’ vocal production was significantly lower in quantitative and qualitative terms in the RODDI play sessions. However, analysing children’s gaze direction, RODDI appeared to enhance children’s attention on the task. The benefits of using robotic platforms with children with ASD should be further investigated.

Background: The neuropsychological profile of children with sex chromosome trisomies [SCTs] is frequently characterised by delays and impairments in language development. However, no studies so far have specifically investigated their narrative competence. Aims: The aim of the study was to analyse the oral narrative competence of preschool children with SCTs due to the importance of this skill for language development and learning abilities. Methods and procedures: Participants were 34 Italian children with SCTs one-to-one matched by age and sex to typically developing [TD] children. A storytelling task, the Narrative Competence Task, was used to assess the macrostructural and microstructural features of the children's narratives. Outcomes and results: Children with SCTs showed significantly lower scores than TD peers in all the narrative indices considered, except for mental state lexicon and story length in words. Conclusions and implications: The problems found in narrative competence confirmed the existence of difficulties in the language development of children with SCTs. Narrative difficulties could affect these children's future learning skills and academic achievements.

The neuropsychological profile associated with sex chromosome trisomies (SCT) is frequently characterised by delays or deficits in linguistic development. Although maternal input could have an important role in influencing and shaping the linguistic development of children with SCT, there is a lack of studies in the literature that have investigated its prosodic characteristics. The study aims to analyse the prosodic features of the maternal input addressed to a group of 8-month-old children with SCT and a group of typically developing (TD) peers. Nineteen mother–child dyads with children with SCT and 19 mother–child dyads with TD children participated in the study. Maternal utterances were collected during video-recorded play sessions, and for each dyad, 50 maternal utterances were selected and analysed using the software Praat. The results showed that the maternal input produced by the mothers in the SCT group was characterised by a significantly lower pitch, less marked and modulated melodic contours, and a shorter final syllable duration than the input addressed to TD children. The prosodic features found in the maternal input addressed to children with SCT were not those expected in the maternal input addressed to children at this developmental stage and could create a non-optimal linguistic environment.

Many individual factors, such as early communicative skills, could play a role in explaining later linguistic outcomes. The detection of predictive variables is fundamental to identifying early the children who need intervention. The present study focuses on children with sex chromosome trisomies (SCTs), genetic conditions with an increased risk of developing language delays or impair-ments. The aims are to analyse their communicative skills at 18 months of age, and identify significant predictors of their later vocabulary size. Participants were 76 18-month-old children (38 with SCTs, and 38 typically-developing (TD) children). Their communicative skills were assessed during a parent–child play session, and parents filled in a report on their vocabulary development at 18 and 24 months. Children with SCTs showed significantly poorer linguistic skills at 18 months in both preverbal (babbling and gestures) and verbal abilities. A high percentage (nearly 70%) of toddlers with SCTs were late-talking children at 24 months, and those toddlers showed a lower frequency of babbling utterances at 18 months. Early lexical skills, children’s developmental quotient, and being part of the group of toddlers with SCTs were significant predictors of children’s vocabulary size six months later. These variables should be considered when assessing the linguistic competence of a child with SCTs to detect possible early risk factors of future language impairment.

The parents of 413 children with typical development (TD) or special educational needs (SEN) filled in an online survey to investigate the associations between the restrictions introduced to face COVID-19 and parenting stress and parental disciplinary practices. The parents of children with SEN showed a significantly higher stress level than TD children's parents. However, they showed a lower inclination to overreact. In both groups, the parents who feel less supported, feel their needs threatened, and report having a child with more difficulties were more likely to exhibit parenting stress. Data on the associations between COVID-19 restrictions and the stress perceived by parents could help to focus the attention of the public health system on their parents' needs, leading to practices aimed to prevent parenting stress and burnout.

The development of prosody covers a long age period, with some functions not well-mastered till adolescence. Moreover, languages show different prosodic developmental trajectories, which can be related to their distinctive characteristics. The Profiling Elements of Prosody in Speech-Communication (PEPS-C) consists of a battery of tasks developed to analyse this competence in both comprehension and expression. It takes into account several prosodic functions (including both affective and linguistic functions). Easy to administer and to score, it has demonstrated its usefulness in the evaluation of prosodic competence from preschool age and in several languages. The main aim of the present work is to investigate the development of prosodic competence in a group of Italian children from four to ten years of age through the administration of the Italian version of the PEPS-C. The results confirm that prosodic development covers a long age period for Italian too: indeed, while the affective function of prosody seemed to be well-mastered from the preschool period, other functions, like use of the prosodic focus, are not well-mastered till late, after the age of ten years. The developmental trajectories found are discussed in relation to those found for languages other than Italian.

A workshop on the role of Executive Functions (EF) in the development of Narrative Competence (NC). EF and NC, taken singly, are two over-investigated domains. However, our knowledge about if and how they related to each other across development is limited. In this intervention I summarized the state of art on this argument, presenting the results of a meta-analysis we have conducted. Implications for clinical and educational practice are discussed. I also provided guidelines for future research on this topic.

Purpose: Describing language development in children with sex chromosome trisomies (SCT) and testing the predictive value of early language measures on later outcomes. Method: Thirteen children with SCT were followed longitudinally. Their developmental profile was assessed, with particular attention to language, at 2 and 4 years. The predictive value of direct (spontaneous speech analysis) and indirect (communicative development inventory) language measures at 2 on performances at 4 was tested. Results: Language performances at both ages were lower than non-verbal development. At 2, more than 50% of the group produced less than 50 words. At 4, impaired performances were observed in speech sound development and expressive morpho-syntax. Direct measures of Pre-syntactic development predicted later global language outcomes and Sentence Repetition. The number of consonants used at 2 was significantly related to Nonword Repetition at 4. Conclusions: The study highlights the importance of early detection and careful follow-up for children with SCT.

OBJECTIVE: Children and adolescents with sex chromosome trisomies (SCTs) usually show a higher frequency of behavioral problems than typically developing (TD) children. However, little is known about the presence of behavioral issues in toddlers with SCT. This study aimed at investigating their behavioral profile in the second year of life and its impact on maternal stress. METHOD: Participants were 87 children ranging in age from 18 to 26 months: 63 children with SCTs (all diagnosed prenatally) and 24 TD children. Their psychomotor and language development and their behavioral profile were assessed. In addition, the level of maternal parenting stress was evaluated. RESULTS: Both psychomotor and language development were significantly lower in children with SCTs than in TD children. Conversely, no significantly greater behavioral problems emerged in children with SCTs. However, a significantly higher level of parenting stress related to a dysfunctional interaction with the child emerged in the mothers of children with SCTs. In this population, maternal stress seemed positively related to their children's emotional problems and pervasive disorders and negatively related to their children's psychomotor and linguistic competence. CONCLUSION: Although no significant behavioral issues emerged in the second year of life, the relationships found between children's behavioral profiles and maternal parenting stress highlight the importance of prenatal counseling and support groups for parents of children with SCTs. This might help them recognize the first signs of behavioral problems and become aware of their influence on parenting stress.

The QUVA-p is a screening tool for identifying preschoolers with self-regulation difficulties. In the present study, preliminary normative age-related data (3, 4, 5 years) are provided separately for males and females and the relationship between self-regulation difficulties and adaptation is analyzed. The questionnaire is preschool teacher-completed, easy and quick to fill-out, and showed good psychometric properties. It can be valuable for the clinician in the early stage of the assessment to detect self-regulation problems potentially predicting Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD).

The present study aimed to analyse the narrative competence of a group of Italian children with a bilateral cochlear implant (CI) implanted before 30 months of age. Participants were ten children with CI (aged from 42 to 83 months) and two control groups of typically hearing children one-to-one paired by sex, non-verbal reasoning, and chronological or hearing age. A story generation task, specifically developed to assess narrative skills in children (i.e., the Narrative Competence Task) was used to evaluate both macrostructural and microstructural features of the children’s narratives. Results showed that children with CI presented only one significant difference in the macrostructural aspects of narratives compared to typically hearing children matched by hearing age, specifically in the higher number of events told. In addition, concerning microstructural features, the only statistically significant difference was a lower lexical variety in the narratives produced by children with CI than in those produced by typically hearing children matched by chronological age. Both macrostructural and microstructural indices appeared to be related to the hearing age of children with CI. Early CI appeared to play a crucial role in the acquisition of a complex area of language development, as narrative competence.

Individuals with sex chromosome trisomies (SCTs) have an increased risk of language delays and impairments. However, there are only a few data relative to their language development in early childhood. The present study aimed to investigate the preverbal skills shown by a group of 8-month-old children with SCTs to assess the presence of a possible early communicative delay. Moreover, the predictive role of early preverbal productions on later lexical development at 24 months was analysed. Twenty-six children with SCTs and 24 typically developing (TD) children participated in the study. Their use of vocal productions and gazes addressed to the communicative partner was assessed during a parent–child observation session held when the children were 8 months old. In addition, the children’s word comprehension at 8 months and their word production at 24 months were indirectly assessed by a parental report. Children’s word comprehension was similar in the two groups of children, whereas a significantly lower frequency per minute of gazes was found in children with SCTs than in TD children. A significantly lower proportion of children with SCTs showed the ability to produce babbling during the observation session, and significant differences were also found in the frequency of babbling utterances. No significant differences emerged among the subgroups of children with different types of SCTs. The predictive role of babbling on later lexical size was found in TD children but not in children with SCTs. This result could be probably explained by the small number of children in this group who could produce babbling utterances. The study leads to identify early signals of delay in the preverbal skills of children with SCTs. Early monitoring of their communicative development could help the clinicians in intervening with well-timed and targeted programmes.

This work presents an analysis of the intonation competence in a group of Italian children with cochlear implant (CI). Early cochlear implantation plays a crucial role in language development for children who were born deaf in that it favours the acquisition of complex aspects of language, such as the intonation structure. A story-generation task, the Narrative Competence Task, was used to elicit children’s stories. Narrations produced by 8 early implanted children and by 16 children with typically hearing (TH) (8 one-to-one matched considering the chronological age, TH-CA, and 8 considering the hearing age, TH-HA) were analysed considering intonation features (pitch accent distribution, edge tones and inner breaks). Results show that children with CI produce intonation patterns that are similar to those of both TH-CA and TH-HA control groups. Few significant differences were found only between children with CI and children matched for TH-HA in the use of rising edge tones. These results are discussed in light of the role of cognitive development in using prosody and intonation and the importance of early CI implantation. This study shows for the first time that intonation use of early implanted children is not different from that of typically developing children with the same chronological age.

Purpose: Children with Down Syndrome (DS) show difficulties in language development, in both basic and complex abilities, as narratives. Less is known about the prosodic competence in DS, but the few available studies highlighted the presence of some deficits. Considering the importance of narratives and prosody in communication, the main aim of this study is to investigate these two competencies in participants with DS. Method: 13 children with DS participated (Mean age: 13;04, years; months). Their narrative and prosodic abilities, collected through a storytelling task, were compared with those of two control groups of typically developing (TD) children, one matched for nonverbal mental age (MA, Mean age: 5;03) and the other matched for the mean length of utterance (MLU, Mean age: 5;05). For the narrative competence, we considered both the macrostructural (i.e. quantity of information and story structure) and the microstructural level (i.e. verbal productivity, lexical diversity, syntactic complexity). For the prosodic competence, we took into account acoustic measures linked to intonation (i.e. mean fundamental frequency (f0), pitch range, final speech profile, and speed of speech). Result: The results of the Mann-Whitney test showed that participants with DS produced stories comparable to those of TD children in nearly all the variables considered, except for the syntactic complexity when compared with children of the same MA. Differences between participants with DS and TD children were found in the f0 and the final pitch profile used. Conclusion: Considering the small size of the samples, these preliminary results should be taken with caution. Nonetheless, this study confirms the presence of difficulties in the prosody of speech and in the syntactic competence of children with DS. These difficulties could have consequences on the possibility to communicate efficiently and should be taken into account in rehabilitation programmes.

The oral narratives of 240 Italian children aged 3-8 years were analyzed using a new instrument, the Narrative Competence Task (NCT). The data showed a gradual increase in the children's narrative competence in both the macrostructure and the microstructure. Statistically significant differences between preschool-age and school-age children were found on all the variables considered. In addition to increased chronological age, a significant role of cognitive abilities (general non-verbal intelligence and sequential reasoning) and linguistic skills (mean length of utterance and lexical diversity) emerged in explaining the variance in children's narrative macrostructure. Children with superior cognitive and linguistic abilities produced richer narratives characterized by a greater quantity of information, a better structure, and a wider use of mental state lexicon. 2020 Hogrefe Publishing.

Several studies have demonstrated the role of narrative competence in predicting later academic achievement, but only a few authors tried to highlight exact relationships between the different aspects of these two complex domains. The main aim of the present work was to investigate this association considering the micro- and macrostructural levels of narratives and both the automatism of reading and writing and more complex literacy skills. Participants were 45 Italian children attending the second and third year of primary school. A battery of tasks assessing their narrative, linguistic, and learning abilities was administered. The results partially confirmed the hypothesized associations between narrative macrostructure, in particular information density and the use of psychological lexicon, and ‘higher’ abilities, in particular written text production

Several studies have demonstrated the role of narrative competence in predicting later academic achievement, but only a few authors tried to highlight exact relationships between the different aspects of these two complex domains. The main aim of the present work was to investigate this association considering the micro- and macrostructural levels of narratives and both the automatism of reading and writing and more complex literacy skills. Participants were 45 Italian children attending the second and third year of primary school. A battery of tasks assessing their narrative, linguistic, and learning abilities was administered. The results partially confirmed the hypothesized associations between narrative macrostructure, in particular information density and the use of psychological lexicon, and ‘higher’ abilities, in particular written text production.