Reading comprehension in children with Down syndrome

Home literacy environment and literacy outcomes in individuals with Williams syndrome and Down syndrome

ABSTRACTBackground: The home literacy environment (HLE) has rarely been examined for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, including individuals with Williams syndrome and Down syndrome. Method: The current study surveyed carers of individuals with Down syndrome (n = 48) and Williams syndrome (n = 18) in the United Kingdom (UK). Results: The study reports that individuals with Down syndrome were rated higher in general reading skills and writing, while the Williams syndrome group scored higher for speaking. Yet, individuals with Down syndrome were more likely to engage in informal activities than instructional activities and the frequency of informal activities related to reading outcomes for those with Down syndrome but not Williams syndrome. Additionally, this study reports that age was not related to the HLE for both groups. Conclusion: This is the first study to report on the HLE of individuals with Williams syndrome and supports the key role of the HLE in the development of literacy skills for individuals with Williams syndrome and Down syndrome.

Research Note: Testing the Simple View of Reading in Adolescents and Adults With Down Syndrome

PURPOSE

The Simple View of Reading is a well-supported framework in typical development that proposes that reading comprehension is predicted by word identification and language comprehension abilities. Although there has been some research examining relations between reading comprehension, word identification, and language comprehension, there has been little research directly testing the Simple View in individuals with Down syndrome, a population that often has difficulties with reading comprehension. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to test the Simple View model in English-speaking readers with Down syndrome and examine the contributions of word identification and language comprehension abilities to their reading comprehension success.

METHOD

Twenty-one adolescent and adult readers with Down syndrome (16-36 years of age) completed standardized reading, language, and IQ assessments.

RESULTS

Multiple regression assessed the contribution of word identification/phonological decoding and language comprehension skills to reading comprehension outcomes. The full model explained 59% of the variance in reading comprehension. However, language comprehension emerged as the only significant unique predictor, explaining 29% of that variance. Together then, word identification and language comprehension explained approximately 30% of the variance in reading comprehension.

CONCLUSIONS

The pattern of results suggests that language comprehension is particularly important to reading comprehension success for individuals with Down syndrome, at least those who can already identify printed words. To support reading comprehension development for individuals with Down syndrome, practitioners, educators, and parents should support language comprehension processes.

A pilot study assessing listening comprehension and reading comprehension in children with down syndrome: Construct validity from a multi-method perspective

Obtaining valid assessments of language and literacy skills in children with Down syndrome (DS) presents a challenge as there is a paucity of information about the psychometrics of measures that are commonly used to measure listening and reading comprehension in this population. Evaluating the construct validity of measures that employ different methods is essential to ascertain the optimal method of assessment in individuals with DS and with typical developmental histories (TD). This pilot study aimed to evaluate the construct validity of four parallel measures of listening and reading comprehension. Participants included 19 individuals with DS (M = 17 years, 3 months; SD = 3 years, 6 months) and 19 word-level reading-matched children with TD (M = 7 years, 2 months; SD = 7 months). Participants completed norm-referenced assessments for four parallel measures of listening and reading comprehension. The four measurement methods were: (1) non-verbal response, (2) cloze procedure, (3) passage-level with close-ended questions, and (4) passage-level with open-ended questions. Participants completed additional assessments (e.g., cognition, language, and speech) for descriptive purposes. Construct validity was assessed using the Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix, a correlation matrix arranged to facilitate the assessment and interpretation of construct validity of measures across various formats. For both study groups, we observed strong evidence of construct validity for three out of four measurement methods. Results using the multimethod perspective also indicated that the listening and reading comprehension constructs were not separable. The findings from this pilot study represent a first step toward determining optimal methods of listening and reading comprehension assessment for individuals with DS. Additionally, these results can inform outcome measure selection in future language and literacy research with children with DS.

Reach Out and Read Implementation in a Pediatric Down Syndrome Clinic

INTRODUCTION

To examine the first Reach Out and Read (ROR) program in a pediatric Down syndrome (DS) clinic in the United States and the literacy behaviors of young children with DS and their families.

METHOD

This is a large cohort (n = 747) review of children with DS participating in ROR and a family literacy survey (n = 209). Data from the electronic medical records were included.

RESULT

On average, children with DS began independently reading at 6.15 years (standard deviation = 1.42). Overall, 36.7% of children with visual/audio impairments required additional encouragement. Time spent reading was impacted by the mother's education level. Differences were found among ROR participants with DS for reported favorite activity.

DISCUSSION

ROR is an important clinic-based literacy program for children with DS. Children with DS attain independent reading abilities similar to typically developing peers when provided appropriate resources. Additional support is needed to encourage reading enjoyment in this population.

Reading and Listening Comprehension in Individuals With Down Syndrome and Word Reading-Matched Typically Developing Children

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to explore the reading comprehension and listening comprehension performance of English-speaking children with Down syndrome (DS) compared with word reading-matched typically developing (TD) children.

METHOD

Participants included 19 individuals with DS (M _age = 17;2 [years;months], range: 11;1-22;9) and 19 word reading-matched TD children (M _age = 7;2, range: 6;6-8;1). Participants completed three norm-referenced measures of reading comprehension and three norm-referenced measures of listening comprehension. Dependent variables were raw scores on each measure, with the exception of scaled scores on one reading comprehension measure.

RESULTS

Independent-samples t tests with Bonferroni-adjusted alpha levels of .008 revealed a significant between-groups difference for two of three reading comprehension measures. The mean raw scores were lower for the DS group than the TD group, with large effect sizes. Independent-samples t tests with Bonferroni-adjusted alpha levels of .008 revealed a significant between-groups difference for three of three listening comprehension measures. The mean raw scores on the three measures were lower for the DS group than the TD group, with large effect sizes.

CONCLUSIONS

The DS group, despite being matched on word reading to the TD group, demonstrated reduced reading comprehension skills as compared with the TD group. Thus, as individuals with DS acquire word reading skills, it appears that they are unable to translate word reading success to achieve reading comprehension at the expected level (i.e., as indexed by typical readers). The between-groups differences in listening comprehension suggest that deficits in listening comprehension likely are a barrier to reading comprehension proficiency for children with DS. Listening comprehension may be a malleable factor that can be targeted to improve reading comprehension outcomes for individuals with DS.

Maternal Use of Decontextualized and Contextualized Talk: An In-Depth Investigation of Early Parent-Child Interactions in Down Syndrome

Purpose The goal of this study was to characterize and quantify maternal use of decontextualized and contextualized input during mother-child interactions including young children with Down syndrome (DS). Method Participants included 22 mother-child dyads with DS (M age = 42.8 months) and 22 mother-child dyads with typical development (M age = 44.0 months). Parent-child language samples were collected during free-play, book reading, and snack time, and coded for maternal decontextualized (i.e., pretend, explanatory, and narrative talk) and contextualized input (i.e., descriptions, conversation, praise, questions, and directives). Results Mothers of children with DS used a larger proportion of pretend talk compared to other types of decontextualized input and also used a larger proportion of questions, conversation, and descriptions compared to other types of contextualized language. Mothers of children with DS generally used a smaller proportion of decontextualized input compared to mothers of children with typical development, with the exception of pretend talk. Maternal decontextualized input was not related to children's age or language ability in DS. Conclusions Findings shed new light on the early language environments of children with DS, providing important insight into the ways that mothers of children with DS are incorporating decontextualized and contextualized talk into early mother-child conversations. Additional implications and future directions are discussed.

Reading for Comprehension in Individuals with Down Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development: Similar or Different Patterns of Ability?

Reading for meaning is one of the most important activities in school and everyday life. The simple view of reading (SVR) has been used as a framework for studies of reading comprehension in individuals with Down syndrome (DS). These tend to show difficulties in reading comprehension despite better developed reading accuracy. Reading comprehension difficulties are influenced by poor oral language. These difficulties are common in individuals with DS and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but they have never been compared directly. Moreover, the components of reading for comprehension have rarely been investigated in these populations: a better understanding of the nature of reading comprehension difficulties may inform both theory and practice. The aim of this study was to determine whether reading comprehension in the two populations is accounted for by the same component skills and to what extent the reading profile of the two atypical groups differs from that of typically developing children (TD). Fifteen individuals with DS (mean age = 22 years 4 months, SD = 5 years 2 months), 21 with ASD (mean age = 13 years 2 months, SD = 1 year 6 months), and 42 TD children (mean age = 8 years 1 month, SD = 7 months) participated and were assessed on measures of receptive vocabulary, text reading and listening comprehension, oral language comprehension, and reading accuracy. The results showed similar levels in word reading accuracy and in receptive vocabulary in all three groups. By contrast, individuals with DS and ASD showed poorer non-word reading and reading accuracy in context than TD children. Both atypical groups showed poorer listening and reading text comprehension compared to TD children. Reading for comprehension, investigated through a homograph reading accuracy task, showed a different pattern for individuals with DS with respect to the other two groups: they were less sensitive to meaning while reading. According to the SVR, the current results confirm that the two atypical groups have similar profiles that overlap with that of poor comprehenders in which poor oral language comprehension constrains reading for comprehension.

Spoken fictional narrative and literacy skills of children with Down syndrome

BACKGROUND

Children with Down syndrome (DS) exhibit below average nonverbal intelligence and impaired language skills; however, their spoken narrative production is a relative strength.

AIMS

We examined expressive language skills produced during fictional narrative retells and analyzed the unique contribution of expressive language skills to word-level reading and reading comprehension of children with DS.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

The microstructure and macrostructure of fifteen, 8- to 18-year-old children with DS's narrative retells were analyzed. Receptive vocabulary, word-level reading, and reading comprehension also were measured.

RESULTS

Narrative microstructure analyses revealed restricted syntactic and semantic diversity. Further analyses of sentence complexity revealed that children with DS predominately produced prepositional phrases and produced more verbs than nouns. Narrative macrostructure analysis revealed participants use of episodic components; however, their stories did not include mental state references. Narrative microstructure contributed unique variance to word-level reading, whereas narrative macrostructure contributed unique variance to word-level reading and reading comprehension. Additionally, strong correlations were found between narrative skills and literacy skills.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Findings from this study support the use of narrative microstructure and macrostructure analyses as a valuable clinical tool to guide assessment and intervention planning for school-aged children with DS.

Vocalization patterns in young children with Down syndrome: Utilizing the language environment analysis (LENA) to inform behavioral phenotypes

Children with Down syndrome (DS) are at higher risk for both delayed expressive language and poor speech intelligibility. The current study utilized the quantitative automated language environment analysis (LENA) to depict mother and child vocalizations and conversational patterns in the home of 43 children with DS, chronologically aged 24-64 months. Children with DS displayed fewer utterances than typically developing children; however, there was wide variability. Furthermore, children with DS did not show increased vocalization counts across their chronological ages. In contrast to previous findings, this study found that the mothers of children with DS had a reduced number of vocalizations. However, the vocalizations increased with age in comparison to mothers of typically developing children. Implications for targeted interventions that facilitate learning opportunities in bidirectional contexts for children with DS and their parents are discussed, with particular attention to quantify behavioral phenotypes utilizing a novel expressive language assessment tool.