Journal of Down Syndrome & Chromosome Abnormalities
Open Access

Students with Down Syndrome Make Oral Reading Mistakes

Author info »

Introduction

Oral language and reading skills are challenging for people with Down syndrome (DS). To design effective treatments that assure academic achievement in this demographic, further research is needed to understand the language and reading links of kids with DS. The current study contributes to the body of knowledge regarding the language and reading profiles of kids with DS by analysing their oral reading miscues and recommending intervention approaches that may be useful to this demographic.

INTRODUCTION

The most prevalent genetic abnormality is Down syndrome (DS). In the United States, one out of every 691 live births has a condition that affects cognitive and intellectual development. Although people with DS have a wide range of cognitive capacities, from near normal to seriously disabled, over 80% of them have mild intellectual impairments. According to research, people with DS have a distinct cognitive profile, especially when compared to those with other impairments, which has an influence on language and reading skills. Individuals with DS have a relative strength in visuo-spatial skills, but auditory short-term memory, specifically phonological, and theory of mind are areas where they struggle. Although research suggests a link between cognitive abilities and spoken language development, little is known about the language foundations and reading links of people with Down syndrome. Although research suggests a link between cognitive abilities and spoken language development, little is known about the language foundations and reading links of people with Down syndrome. This essay is theoretically guided by the hypothesis that pupils' underlying spoken language processes have a role in their reading development. Oral language is the basis for reading, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association position statement, and those who suffer in these areas also suffer with oral language. Although the findings from the miscue analysis indicate that individuals with DS generate semantically acceptable miscues, further examination reveals that they may struggle with inferential or "deep level" knowledge [1]. 6Special The primary character in the book is blind, though the author never directly acknowledges this. Instead, depending on features given in the book (e.g., he learns to read with his fingers, he has a "special" instructor who helps him learn arithmetic using arithmetic rods, he used his hands, not his eyes, to help him feel along the wall to unlock the door), readers must "read between the lines" to realise this. Two of the individuals with DS were able to spontaneously characterise this important moment based on the oral tale retellings [2]. Surprisingly, these two persons had the largest percentages of meaning-preserving miscues. Despite significant, direct urging during the retellings, none of the remaining DS participants could identify the main character as blind. The goal of this study was to use the methodological reading tool of miscue analysis to explore the oral reading miscues produced by students with DS [3].

CONCLUSION

The results of an in-depth theme analysis are explained using descriptive statistics as well as qualitative data. Around a third of the miscues had no meaning, over half did not have an adequate grammatical structure, and about one-third did not match the visual or phonemic structures of the intended term, according to the findings. We show that students with DS sought to employ methods, such as visual aids, to reinforce the meaning of the text, despite the fact that miscues were rare. For every participant in the study, meaning construction scores (no or partial loss) were higher than grammatical connection scores (strong or partial strength).

References

1. Dierssen M, Herault Y, Estivill X (2009) Aneuploidy: from a physiological mechanism of variance to Down syndrome. Physiol Rev 89: 887-920.
2. Cook EH Jr, Scherer SW (2008) Copy-number variations associated with neuropsychiatric conditions. Nature 455: 919-923.
3. Veitia RA, Potier MC2 (2015) Gene dosage imbalances: action, reaction, and models. Trends Biochem Sci 40: 309-317.

References

1. Dierssen M, Herault Y, Estivill X (2009) Aneuploidy: from a physiological mechanism of variance to Down syndrome. Physiol Rev 89: 887-920.
2. Cook EH Jr, Scherer SW (2008) Copy-number variations associated with neuropsychiatric conditions. Nature 455: 919-923.
3. Veitia RA, Potier MC2 (2015) Gene dosage imbalances: action, reaction, and models. Trends Biochem Sci 40: 309-317.