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Contains fulltext : 191139.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access), The present article aimed to explore how the development of reading comprehension is affected when its cognitive basis is compromised. The simple view of reading was adopted as the theoretical framework. The study followed 76 children with mild intellectual disabilities (average IQ = 60.38, age 121 months) across a period of 3 years. The children were assessed for level of reading comprehension (outcome variable) and its precursors decoding and listening comprehension, in addition to linguistic skills (foundational literacy skills, rapid naming, phonological short-term memory, verbal working memory, vocabulary, and grammar) and non-linguistic skills (nonverbal reasoning and temporal processing). Reading comprehension was predicted by decoding and listening comprehension but also by foundational literacy skills and nonverbal reasoning. It is concluded that intellectual disabilities can affect the development of reading comprehension indirectly via linguistic skills but also directly via nonlinguistic nonverbal reasoning ability.

Item does not contain fulltext, Learning to read is challenging for children who have hearing impairments and concurrent intellectual disabilities because they face barriers due to both conditions. In many developmental domains, including executive functioning and language development, auditory and intellectual disabilities mutually influence each other; a deficit in one domain hinders coping mechanisms to compensate for distortions in the other. The resulting impact is more than the sum of the parts. It affects the way students learn to read and the way they process written text in many ways. Little is known about the key factors in literacy development for children with both hearing impairments and intellectual disabilities. This chapter integrates recent findings on reading development in children with both of these conditions to define a research base for two exploratory studies on literacy attainment in these learners. Recommendations for literacy education are based on these studies.

Item does not contain fulltext, Background Knowledge about predictors for reading comprehension in children with intellectual disabilities (ID) is still fragmented. Aims This study compared reading comprehension, word decoding, listening comprehension, and reading related linguistic and cognitive precursor measures in children with mild ID and typically developing controls. Moreover, it was explored how the precursors related to reading achievement. Method and procedures Children with mild ID and typical controls were assessed on reading comprehension, decoding, language comprehension, and linguistic (early literacy skills, vocabulary, grammar) and cognitive (rapid naming, phonological short-term memory, working memory, temporal processing, nonverbal reasoning) precursor measures. It was tested to what extent variations in reading comprehension could be explained from word decoding, listening comprehension and precursor measures. Outcomes and results The ID group scored significantly below typical controls on all measures. Word decoding was at or above first grade level in half the ID group. Reading comprehension in the ID group was related to word decoding, listening comprehension, early literacy skills, and temporal processing. Conclusion and implications The reading comprehension profile of children with mild ID strongly resembles typical early readers. The simple view of reading pertains to children with mild ID, with additional influence of early literacy skills and temporal processing.

Radboud University, 13 maart 2017, Promotores : Verhoeven, L.T.W., Balkom, L.J.M. van, Segers, P.C.J., Contains fulltext : 167031.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)

Item does not contain fulltext, A considerable number of children with intellectual disabilities (ID) are able to acquire basic word reading skills. However, not much is known about their achievements in more advanced reading comprehension skills. In the present study, a group of 49 children with ID and a control group of 21 typically developing children with word decoding skills in the normal ranges of first grade were compared in lower level (explicit meaning) and higher level (implicit meaning) reading comprehension abilities. Moreover, in the group of children with ID it was examined to what extent their levels of lower level and higher level reading comprehension could be predicted from their linguistic skills (word decoding, vocabulary, language comprehension) and cognitive skill (nonverbal reasoning). It was found that children with ID were weaker than typically developing children in higher level reading comprehension but not in lower level reading comprehension. Children with ID also performed below the control group on nonverbal reasoning and language comprehension. After controlling for nonverbal reasoning, linguistic skills predicted lower level reading comprehension but not higher level reading comprehension. It can be concluded that children with ID who have basic decoding skill do reasonably well on lower level reading comprehension but continue to have problems with higher level reading comprehension.