We have come a long way since the 1970s, when writer Patricia Logan Oelwein developed her strategies for teaching children with Down syndrome to read. Oelwein recounts that as a student teacher, she taught children who worked on farms to read feed labels and was told that she should not attempt to teach children with Down syndrome to read, since it would result in frustration.
Today, it is known that not only can children with Down syndrome learn to read, but they can become strong readers, and reading can be a strength that opens the door to further learning, particularly to the development of speech and communication skills. For more information, we spoke to Emily Mondschein, executive director of Gigi’s Playhouse in Buffalo, New York; Christopher J. Lemons, PhD, an associate professor of special education in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University; and Kathleen Whitbread, PhD, from Whitbread Educational Consulting.
Oelwein and Professor Sue Buckley were pioneers in developing a method of learning to read utilizing the people with Down syndrome’s general strengths in social skills and visual memory. The method focused on whole-word reading and engagement through the use of personalized books, often written by the kids themselves, with simple sentences about the student’s own favorite things and people, gradually moving the child onto more complex texts and developing their capacity for decoding when they already had enough sight words to enjoy reading and be motivated to learn the more challenging skills.
While most schools still lack any training in teaching students with Down syndrome to read, many Down syndrome organizations provide programs for families to work on these skills at home. In this clip, Mondschein explains how they use the “Match Select Name” method using pictures and flashcards.
Recent research on literacy learning has led many to question this tried and tested method. The whole-word approach seems to contradict the science of reading, which suggests that a phonics decoding approach is more likely to produce a strong reader.
The brain science that supports a structured literacy approach holds for children with Down syndrome too. Brain imaging studies demonstrate that in order to learn to read, the brain must develop new neural pathways between different centers that recognize letters and words, map the sounds to letters, store word meanings, and understand grammar rules and sentences.
In order to read, we need fast connections between these centers.
Children with Down syndrome have stronger abilities in the visual part of the brain. The development of neural pathways is also impacted by the additional twenty-first chromosome that is characteristic of Down syndrome. Brain imaging studies on children with Down syndrome are relatively new but suggest that the language and motor centers in the brain are the most underdeveloped. Reading requires neural pathways to develop linking letter sounds and visual shapes in order for decoding to become increasingly automatic. Since the development of neural networks is delayed, children with Down syndrome will need a lot of repetition and practice to become fluent readers.
Professor Lemons has demonstrated in his research that the science of reading also applies to children with Down syndrome. The science of reading (also known as structured literacy) includes the five fundamental pillars: phonics (connecting letters to sounds), phonemic awareness (identifying distinct units of sound), fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Children with Down syndrome were given a structured literacy intervention (i.e., based on the science of reading) and made significant progress. If children are taught to decode rather than to memorize sight words, they can progress much further beyond the limit of the number of words they can memorize. Lemons’s work has resulted in a number of new programs being developed specifically to adapt the structured literacy approach to children with a visual learning strength, in line with the Down Syndrome learning profile.
He explains, “Learners with more extensive support needs can become independent readers. Reading is an important skill to focus on and teach them.“ Teachers need support to understand the potential for improving reading skills and how using evidence-based practices to support these learners fosters inclusion.
With many states like California adopting a science of reading approach in schools, it is good news to learn that this strategy can also work for children with Down syndrome. However, many teachers find that children with Down syndrome develop phonemic awareness skills later, undoubtedly because of speech and language delays. Rhyming is particularly challenging. Focusing on sight words at the beginning of the reading process, as Buckley and others have shown, can create opportunities for the child to enjoy access to age-appropriate literature and reading while still working on foundational skills.
In this clip, Lemons explains how the science of reading applies to children with Down syndrome:
When it comes to teaching kids with Down syndrome to read, there’s no one-size-fits-all method, but there are some approaches that consistently make a difference. Here are three key takeaways for supporting your child’s reading journey:
Lemons agrees that combining sight words and an explicit structured approach to phonics and decoding is the key to teaching children with Down syndrome to read.
We still need to advocate for foundational reading skills being taught with a structured, systematic approach to explicit instruction in decoding and encoding in later grades; many education specialists and special education teachers instead fall back on limiting students to learning sight words and “survival signs.”
Dr. Whitbread is an expert on literacy instruction who has worked extensively with children with Down syndrome. She reiterates the message that teaching both sight words and phonics is important.
Using personal books and familiar words (rather than a boring list of high-frequency words) is also a strategy that works with either approach to reading instruction. In this clip, Dr. Whitbread explains how the strategy can motivate students, leveraging the heightened social interest at the core of the Down syndrome learning profile:
Most important is that children with Down syndrome need regular explicit instruction and practice in reading in ways that make them feel successful and connected with others socially. Here, Mondschein explains how important a regular focus on reading instruction can be:
Dr. Whitbread tells us that kids with Down syndrome need a lot of repetition of the skill in order to master it, which usually doesn’t occur in a typical school day. That’s where reading at home comes in. When kids practice reading in context in the course of their day and during regular activities, that is actually more powerful. She gives us some examples:
Learn digraphs at home. A digraph is a combination of two letters representing one sound, as in “SH.” Parents can help their child learn a digraph like "SH" by pointing out words that start with it in everyday life. For example, when they hear “ship,” they can say, “Ship starts with SH!” They can label household items, find objects that start with SH, and even involve caregivers, such as babysitters or bus drivers. The key is to reinforce the sound and its spelling throughout the day in a fun and natural way. This way, the child is getting reinforcement throughout the day that the letters “SH” make the sound “SH,” and this is what it looks like.
Read to your child and talk about what you’re reading. For example, for older kids who are working on finding the main idea of a book or passage, which can be a difficult concept, parents can read and take a minute to ask, “What do you think the most important thing was?” You can of course ask this in language your child understands. But when you do this often enough, kids start to move forward in their learning just from that added practice.
Make opportunities to read at home. As Dr. Whitbread explains, children need to have more opportunities to read, “and that is where I think parents can really be helpful about increasing their reading time at home in order to make up for that.”
If you are looking for support for teaching your child with Down syndrome to read, there are a number of online programs, such as:
See and Learn reading language intervention from Down Syndrome Education, based on Buckley’s research
LP Online from DSFOC and NDSC
So Happy to Learn, developed based on Oelwein’s approach
Special Reads, whole-word instruction
Raising Robust Readers, a program from Phonics the Right Way
Florida Center for Reading Research, YouTube videos to help you practice reading at home
Early Literacy Skills Builder - ELSB, lessons and multi-year curriculum from Dr. Diane Browder
Friends on the Block, intensive early literacy intervention program
MultiLit, evidence-based literacy programs mainly across Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.
If you’re in California, you might also be interested in these in-person programs:
Gigi’s Playhouse 1:1 tutoring (at centers in several states, now in San Diego and Los Angeles)
Every Child A Reader at Club 21 Learning & Resource Center in Pasadena
Communication Readiness Program, a six-week class including early literacy offered by Down Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area
Learning Program of Orange County offers face-to-face programming represents a comprehensive collection of teaching strategies, educational activities and resources designed to give learners the best opportunity for success
Down Syndrome Association of LA offers one-to-one tutoring with reading specialists
Save your favorite resources and access a custom Roadmap.
Get Started
