Form and Function of Communicative Behaviours in Individuals with Angelman Syndrome

Abstract

There are only a few studies that have attempted to systematically document the communicative forms and functions in the repertoires of individuals with Angelman syndrome (AS). In the present study, we sent the Inventory of Potential Communicative Acts (IPCA) (Sigafoos et al. 2000a,b) to 136 families of children with AS. The IPCA aims to provide a systematic inventory and objective description of the communication forms and functions present in the child’s repertoire. Seventy-nine surveys were returned and analyzed to determine differences in the number and types of communicative forms and functions in relation to the child’s setting, genetic subtype, presence of epilepsy, age, and level of intellectual disability. The results showed significant differences in the forms and functions of reported communicative acts for individuals with AS deletion and AS disomy, epilepsy versus no epilepsy, and for individuals with severe versus profound levels of intellectual disability. Significant differences were also evident as a function of age and living situations. These data (i) suggest that the communicative phenotype associated with AS is influenced by genetic, medical, and environmental factors and (ii) may be relevant for any attempt to enhance these persons’ communicative functioning.