Speech and language skills in a case of Watson syndrome.

Abstract

Watson syndrome is a rare genetic condition partly characterised by developmental delays and learning difficulties. A profile of speech and language skills associated with this developmental syndrome is yet to be described in the literature. In order to address this gap, this study presents the case of an 18-year-old man with Watson syndrome and reports both standardised and naturalistic assessments of speech, language, oro-motor skills, and semantic and phonemic fluency. Analyses included norm-referencing, discrepancy comparison, phonological process analysis, and acoustic analyses of voice and conversational fluency. The participant's semantic fluency approximated to the 84^th percentile and the vocabulary, voice, and receptive language measures were within standard normative range. In contrast, expressive language difficulties and articulatory difficulties associated with impaired oro-motor skills were apparent. Specific tongue-motor difficulty impeded oral diadochokinesis, with gliding, stopping, and cluster reduction among the phonological processes observed to mitigate oro-motor difficulties. Language scores were lowest on tasks of working memory, syntax, and pragmatics, however neither syntax nor pragmatics presented increased difficulty in naturalistic conversation, indicating an influence of reduced working memory on language performance. The absence of explicit cognitive or communicative difficulty suggests specific speech and language difficulties. To conclude, the findings are discussed from both clinical and theoretical perspectives. Watson syndrome and the aetiology of communication difficulties are suggested as directions for future research, to validate these findings and diversify understanding of inclusive communication approaches.