Reading and metaphonological skills in Down syndrome

The aim of this study is to investigate reading and metaphonological skills in 17 individuals with Down syndrome (DS) compared with 17 typically developing children matched for reading age. For this purpose, tests of reading and metaphonological abilities were administered. Our results document comparable isolated word reading (regular and irregular). On the contrary the individuals with DS were impaired in nonword reading accuracy, in interpreting non homographic homophone words, in a passage comprehension, in syllable deletion and in rhyme detection tasks. Rehabilitative implications of these findings are discussed.