Rett syndrome is a recently described although not uncommon neurological disorder occurring to date only in females and characterized by apparently normal early development followed by arrest in all developmental areas. Although receptive and expressive language problems are a necessary feature for its diagnosis, little information is available on the nature of communicative functioning. This article reviews the literature on the characteristics and developmental progression of the communicative impairment, including comprehension and production of language, social development, oral motor and feeding, and respiration. Speech and language acquisition appears to mirror the course observed in other developmental areas including early onset followed by regression and relative stagnation. Following this review, a case study is presented documenting communicative development from infancy to adolescence. As speech and language pathologists become familiar with this syndrome, they will be better able to make clinical decisions including efficacy of treatment.
