Q: Five years and three months ago, I was blessed with a baby boy. My beautiful baby boy has Down syndrome. I want him to have the ability to read, but I don’t know where to start. What are your thoughts?
A: Not too long ago, people believed that children with Down syndrome were unable to read and write. For this reason, those with Down syndrome were placed in special education classrooms that did not involve any reading instruction. However, recent research has shown that with the proper teaching, children with Down syndrome can proficiently read and write. Once their reading level is on par with their peers, they can even be placed into mainstream classrooms.
One mother wrote about the influence reading had on her daughter Emma:
I started to teach Emma to read [seven] years ago. She was then two years and four months of age. Emma is now nine years old and an able and avid reader. She attends our large, local, mainstream primary school and holds her own well in second year junior class. She seems to develop in leaps and bounds. Being able to read has done so much for her.
It helped her speech. For example, when she began to read at age two, she spoke understandably but imperfectly as she left out definite and indefinite articles, prepositions, etc. The change came when she was able to sentence-build in flashcards. Today her speech is mature and her teacher commented at the last parents evening that the extent of her vocabulary and her turn of phrase would leave many in the class standing.
It helped in the way other children regarded Emma and not least her own self-esteem. They knew that in reading she was among the best in the class. This apparently less able child wasn’t so less able after all!
It’s hard to imagine that reading can have such profound effects, but studies show that the benefits of reading instruction on children with Down syndrome extend far beyond the classroom. In the book Speech and Language Development for Teenagers with Down Syndrome, Gillian Bird compiles a list of all the added advantages of reading:
- Vocabulary and Grammar Skills. Children with Down syndrome have difficulty learning their first language from listening. Seeing the printed words enables them to broaden their vocabulary and enhance their grammar skills.
- Language Development. With less stress on children’s working memory, they will be more likely to produce organized language. This will translate into more fluent and coherent speech.
- Life Skills. Reading is a fundamental life skill. Think about what you are doing right now! Print is all around us both for practical use (signs, street names, advertisements, instructions) and for pleasure (reading or writing a card, making a shopping list, reading a book).
- Self Confidence. Once children with Down syndrome gain the ability to read at an eight- or nine-year-old level, they will be able to write letters, read newspapers, and most books. This can give them a tremendous boost of self-esteem as they are no longer reliant on others to do this work for them.
