This article reports the evaluation of a 10-week phonologically-based literacy programme involving 10 children with Down syndrome (DS). At the outset, each child relied on a whole word method of reading with no apparent use of decoding strategies. The reading and phonological skills of the children were assessed twice prior to undertaking the training (baseline), at the end of training and after three months. The literacy programme targeted phonological skills at the onset–rime level, alphabet work, word analysis and whole word reading within the context of reading books. The results showed a significant improvement in word reading skill and alphabet knowledge for the group, with 4 children developing a decoding strategy for the reading of unfamiliar words. Reading progress was maintained for the majority of children three months after the training programme had finished. Thus, a teaching programme incorporating phonological word analysis can be beneficial to individuals with DS but there is considerable variability in response.
BaylisPJ (2005) Reading in children with Down Syndrome. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of York, UK.
2.
BicklerSBakerSHobsbaumA (2003) Bridging bands for guided reading: Resourcing for diversity into key stage 2. London: Institute of Education, University of London.
3.
BoudreauD (2002) Literacy skills in children and adolescents with Down syndrome. Reading and Writing15: 497–525.
4.
BrowderDMLalliJS (1991) Review of research on sight-word instruction. Research in Developmental Disabilities12: 203–28.
5.
BrowderDMXinYP (1998) A meta-analysis and review of sight word research and its implications for teaching functional reading to individuals with moderate to severe disabilities. Journal of Special Education32: 130–53.
6.
BusAGvan IjzendoornM (1999) Phonological awareness and early reading: A meta-analysis of experimental training studies. Journal of Educational Psychology91: 403–14.
7.
ByrneB (1998) The foundation of literacy: The child’s acquisition of the alphabetic principle. Hove: Psychology Press.
8.
ByrneAMacDonaldJBuckleySJ (2002) Reading, language and memory skills: A comparative longitudinal study of children with Down syndrome and their mainstream peers. British Journal of Educational Psychology72, 513–29.
9.
Cardoso-MartinsCFrithU (2001) Can individuals with Down syndrome acquire alphabetic literacy skills in the absence of phoneme awareness?Reading and Writing14: 361–75.
10.
Cardoso-MartinsCMickalickMFPolloTC (2002) Is sensitivity to rhyme a developmental precursor to sensitivity to phoneme?: Evidence from individuals with Down syndrome. Reading and Writing15: 439–54.
11.
CarrollJMSnowlingMJHulmeCStevensonJ (2003) The development of phonological awareness in pre-school children. Developmental Psychology39: 913–23.
12.
ChapmanRS (1997) Language development in children and adolescents with Down syndrome. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews3: 307–12.
13.
ClayMM (2000) Running records for classroom teachers. Auckland: Heineman.
14.
CohenLManionLMorrisonK (2000) Research methods in education. 5th edition. London: Routledge/Falmer.
15.
ConnersFA (1992) Reading instruction for students with moderate mental retardation: Review and analysis of research. American Journal on Mental Retardation96: 577–97.
16.
ConnersFARosenquistCJSlighACAtwellJAKiserT (2006) Phonological reading skills acquisition by children with mental retardation. Research in Developmental Disabilities27: 121–37.
17.
CossuGRossiniFMarshallJC (1993) When reading is acquired but phonemic awareness is not: A study of literacy in Down’s syndrome. Cognition46: 129–38.
18.
CupplesLIaconoT (2000) Phonological awareness and oral reading skill in children with Down syndrome. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research43: 595–608.
19.
CupplesLIaconoT (2002) The efficacy of ‘whole word’ versus ’analytic’ reading instruction for children with Down syndrome. Reading and Writing15: 549–74.
20.
Department for Education and Employment (1998) The national literacy strategy: Framework for teaching. London: DfEE.
21.
ElliotCDSmithPMcCullochK (1996) British Ability Scales II Reading Test. Windsor: NFER-Nelson.
22.
EvansR (1994) Phonological awareness in children with Down’s syndrome. Down Syndrome Research and Practice2: 102–05.
23.
FarrellMElkinsJ (1994) Literacy for all?: The case of Down syndrome. Journal of Reading38: 270–80.
24.
FowlerAE (1995) Linguistic variability in persons with Down syndrome: Research and implications. In: NadelLRosenthalD (eds) Down syndrome, living and learning in the community. New York: Wiley-Liss, 121–31.
25.
FowlerAEDohertyBJBoyntonL (1995) The basis of reading skill in young adults with Down’s syndrome. In: NadelLRosenthalD (eds) Down syndrome: Living and learning in the community. New York: Wiley-Liss, 182–96.
26.
GoetzKBrigstockeSCarrollJNasirLSnowlingMJHulmeC (2008) Training reading and phoneme awareness skills in children with Down syndrome. Reading and Writing21: 395–412.
27.
GoswamiUBryantPE (1990) Phonological skills and learning to read. London: Erlbaum.
28.
GroenMLawsGNationKBishopD (2006) A case of exceptional reading accuracy in a child with Down syndrome: Underlying skills and\ the relation to reading comprehension. Cognitive Neuropsychology23: 1190–1214.
29.
HatcherPJ (2000) Sound links in reading and spelling with discrepancy-defined dyslexics and children with moderate learning difficulties. Reading and writing13: 257–72.
30.
HatcherPJHulmeCEllisW (1994) Ameliorating early reading failure by integrating the teaching of reading and phonological skills: The phonological linkage hypothesis. Child Development65: 41–57.
31.
HatcherPJHulmeCSnowlingMJ (2004) Explicit phoneme awareness training with phonic reading instruction helps young children at-risk of reading failure. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry45: 338–58.
32.
HinsonMGainsC (1993) The NASEN A-Z: A graded list of reading books. Revised. Tamworth: NASEN.
33.
JosephLMSeeryME (2004) Where is the phonics?: A review of the literature on the use of phonetic analysis with students with mental retardation. Remedial and Special Education25: 88–97.
34.
Kay-Raining BirdECleavePLMcConnellL (2000) Reading and phonological awareness in children with Down syndrome: A longitudinal study. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology9: 319–30.
35.
KennedyEJFlynnMC (2003) Training phonological awareness skills in children with Down syndrome. Research in Developmental Disabilities24: 44–57.
36.
LemonsCJFuchsD (2010a) Phonological awareness of children with Down syndrome: Its role in learning to read and the effectiveness of related interventions. Research in Developmental Disabilities31: 316–30, DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2009.11.00210.1016/j.ridd.2009.11.002.
37.
LemonsCFuchsD (2010b) Modeling response to reading intervention in children with Down Syndrome: An examination of predictors of differential growth. Reading Research Quarterly45: 134–68.
38.
MoniKBJoblingA (2000) Latch-on: A programme to develop literacy in young adults with Down syndrome. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy44: 40–49.
39.
MoniKBJoblingA (2001) Reading related literacy learning of young adults with Down syndrome: Findings from a 3-year teaching and research programme. International Journal of Disability Development and Education48: 377–94.
MuterVHulmeCSnowlingMJStevensonJ (2004) Phonemes, rimes, vocabulary and grammatical skills as foundations of early reading development: Evidence from a longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology40: 665–81.
42.
Oxford Reading Tree (1987) Reading scheme. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
43.
RochMJarroldC (2008) A comparison between word and nonword reading in Down Syndrome: The role of phonological awareness. Journal of Communication Disorders41: 305–18.
44.
RosenthalRJacobsonL (1968) Pygmalion in the classroom: Teacher expectation and pupils’ intellectual development. New York: Irvington.
45.
SnowlingMJHulmeCMercerR (2002) A deficit in rime awareness in children with Down syndrome. Reading and Writing15: 471–95.
46.
Stoel-GammonC (2001) Down syndrome phonology: Developmental patterns and intervention strategies. Down Syndrome Research and Practice7: 93–100.
47.
TorgesenJK (2005) Recent discoveries on remedial interventions for children with dyslexia. In: SnowlingMJHulmeC (eds) The science of reading: A handbook. Oxford: Blackwell, 521–37.
48.
van BysterveldtAKGillonGTMoranC (2006) Enhancing phonological awareness and letter knowledge in preschool children with Down Syndrome. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education53: 301–29.
49.
WalkerJBrooksL (1993) The dyslexia institute skills development programme. London: James and James for the Dyslexia Institute.
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
