Concurrent and longitudinal predictors of reading comprehension in Down syndrome.

Aim: Two studies were carried out with adolescents with Down syndrome (DS) in order to analyze in which way the individual differences in reading comprehension are accounted for by reading skills and listening comprehension. Method: A one year follow up study was carried out. Results: In Study 1, 23 individuals with DS and 23 typically developing children were compared on their reading skills, listening and reading comprehension. Individuals with DS showed an atypical profile, similar to that of ‘poor comprehenders’: they performed well in word reading and poorly in both reading and listening comprehension. Study 2 tested the hypothesis that poor listening comprehension might explain the scarce performance in reading comprehension and therefore be a cause of the asynchrony between reading skills and reading comprehension in DS. Ten adolescents with DS were assessed at two points in time on their reading skills, listening and reading comprehension. Reading skills played a marginal role on the development of reading comprehension which was, instead, predicted by listening comprehension. Conclusion: The results of the two studies are discussed and for their educational implications for literacy development in Down syndrome assessed.