Session 21 - Reading
Literacy Development Milestones in Children with Down Syndrome
Jennifer Harris, MSE1; Rebecca Bernstein, BA1; Kristine Wolter-Warmerdam, PhD ABD, MA1; Francis Hickey, MD1,2
Anna and John J. Sie Center for Down Syndrome, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora CO1 and Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine Aurora CO2
Corresponding Author: Jennifer Harris, MSE, Sie Center for Down Syndrome, Children’s Hospital Colorado, 13123 East 16th Avenue, Box 745, Aurora, CO 80045; Phone: 720-777-3122; Fax: 720-777-7936; Email: Jennifer.Harris2@childrenscolorado.org
Abstract
Background: Children with Down syndrome (DS) are known to have different literacy patterns compared to typically developing peers; however, no specific development schedule for DS literacy patterns exists. Early identification of advanced, age appropriate, or delayed development, as well as potential risk factors, are important for professionals for determining targeted interventions and support needed for school-age children with DS.
Research Questions: Using a large cohort of school-age children with DS, the goal of this study was to identify potential factors, other than age, that may impact literacy achievement. We also aimed to establish baseline data for a future reliability and validity assessment of the clinic Literacy Development Parent Questionnaire (LDPQ).
Method: LDPQ responses were collected from 271 unique patient caregivers (total=294; mean age=9.3 years; SD=4.0; age range=3-18 years) that spoke English (n=236) and Spanish (n=35) as their primary language. Literacy skills focused on phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. One hundred literacy skills were organized into seven literacy stages and analyzed.
Results: Age at each emerging literacy reader level was identified for children with DS (Foundational Reader=3 years of age; Early Emergent Reader=5 years; Emergent Reader=7 years; Developing Reader=8 years; Early Fluent Reader= 8 years; Emergent Fluent Reader=11-12 years; Fluent Reader=11-12 years). Binomial logistic regressions were run to determine the impact of primary language in the home, expressive language delay, gender, average minutes per week child is read to, and age on literacy achievement for each level.
Conclusion: Our results support that children with DS follow a unique timeline in development of literacy skills and should be assessed based on performance relative to other children with DS to determine targeted interventions and support.
Cognitive correlates of word decoding and listening comprehension in youth with Down syndrome: An examination of traditional pre-literacy skills and executive function task performance
Nancy Raitano Lee, PhD; Drexel University, nrl39@drexel.edu
Background: Educational strategies to support reading in the general population, particularly for children with specific learning disorder with impairment in reading, have benefited from using causal models to test hypotheses about the underlying cognitive processes that may be contributing to complex learning challenges.
Research Question: The current research sought to apply such a model to the study of the components of the Simple View of Reading, namely listening comprehension and word recognition skills, in youth with Down syndrome (DS). Specifically, it aimed to evaluate whether executive function skills add unique variance to the prediction of listening comprehension and word recognition skills after traditional pre-literacy skills are accounted for.
Method: Thirty-six youth with DS (6-17 years of age) participated. They completed the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test – Third Edition (WIAT-III) Word Reading and Oral Discourse Comprehension tasks to assess word recognition and listening comprehension, respectively. They also completed traditional pre-literacy tasks to assess phonemic awareness, rhyme awareness, receptive vocabulary, and verbal short-term memory, as well as two executive function tasks, the NIH Toolbox Flanker and Dimensional Change Card Sort tasks. Pearson correlations were run to examine relations between cognitive skills and the two components of the Simple View of Reading. Then partial Pearson correlations were run to examine relations between the two executive function tasks and both aspects of the Simple View of Reading after covarying traditional pre-literacy skills.
Results: All traditional pre-literacy skills related to both word recognition and listening comprehension (all rs>0.45, all ps<0.02). In contrast, the two executive function tasks related only to listening comprehension skills (rs>0.42; ps<0.02); this relationship persisted after controlling for the pre-literacy skills statistically in partial correlations (rps>0.39; ps<0.03).
Conclusion: These results highlight the possible role executive function skills play in listening (and reading) comprehension in DS.
