Content area
Narrative abilities are essential for school achievement and quality of life, yet children with Down syndrome (DS) often struggle with these skills. This work explores the oral narrative abilities of school-age Chilean children with DS. The participants were 11 children with DS aged between 7;2 and 12;1 (years; months). All participated in a retelling task using a wordless picture book. Microstructural and macrostructural performance were analyzed and compared with data from a reference database of typically developing Spanish-speaking children, matched by chronological age or linguistic abilities. Children with DS showed proficiency in identifying introductory story elements but faced difficulties with cohesion. Restricted microstructural performance and task completion time were observed. Ethical-methodological challenges and recommendations for practice and research are discussed.
Details
Mental Age;
Semantics;
Developmental Disabilities;
Reading Instruction;
Language Skills;
Narration;
Academic Achievement;
Down Syndrome;
Syntax;
Quality of Life;
Interpersonal Relationship;
Reference Materials;
Short Term Memory;
Spanish Speaking;
Reading Comprehension;
Linguistics;
Low Achievement
1 Victoria Sánchez-Gómez, Institute for Community Inclusion (INICO), University of Salamanca, Spain, Antonio M. Amor González, INICO, University of Salamanca, Spain, Laura Zampini, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy, Miguel Ángel Verdugo, INICO, University of Salamanca, Spain, María Isabel Calvo, INICO, University of Salamanca, Spain