Simple View of Reading in Down's syndrome: the role of listening comprehension and reading skills.
BACKGROUND
According to the 'Simple View of Reading' (Hoover and Gough 1990), individual differences in reading comprehension are accounted for by decoding skills and listening comprehension, each of which makes a unique and specific contribution.


OBJECTIVE
The current research was aimed at testing the Simple View of Reading in individuals with Down's syndrome and comparing their profiles with typically developing first graders.


METHODS
Listening comprehension and the ability to read both words and non-words was compared in two groups with the same level of reading comprehension: 23 individuals with Down's syndrome aged between 11 years 3 months and 18 years 2 months and 23 first-grade typically developing children aged between 6 years 2 months and 7 years 4 months.


RESULTS
The results indicate that at the same level of reading comprehension, individuals with Down's syndrome have less developed listening comprehension and more advanced word recognition than typically developing first graders. A comparison of the profiles of the two groups revealed that reading comprehension level was predicted by listening comprehension in both groups of participants and by word-reading skills only in typically developing children.


CONCLUSIONS
The Simple View of Reading model is confirmed for individuals with Down's syndrome, although they do not show the reading profile of typically developing first graders; rather, they show an atypical profile similar to that of 'poor comprehenders' (Cain and Oakhill 2006). The crucial role of listening comprehension in Down's syndrome is also discussed with reference to the educational implications.
Roch
Maja
M
Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e dei Processi di Socializzazione, University of Padua, Padua, Italy. maja.roch@unipd.it
Levorato
M Chiara
MC
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002663:Child Language; D032882:Comprehension; D004314:Down Syndrome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D046709:Pattern Recognition, Physiological; D011932:Reading; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D013067:Speech Perception; D014825:Vocabulary