Abstract
In this study, we investigated the relationship between reading and writing ability and phonological information processing ability in children with Down syndrome. The subjects were 43 elementary to high school children with Down syndrome(MA 12:10; SD 3: 2; MA 4:10; SD 1: 3). We individually performed the hiragana reading and writing task, the task related to phono- logical awareness ability(mora segmentation, presence/absence of judgment, and the extraction task), and the non-word repetition task of six and seven mora. Grouping was performed according to the score of the reading and writing task for each hiragana character type. As a result of examining the difference in phonological awareness ability task scores of the hiragana reading and writing group, the mora segmentation/ex- traction task and the writing task of voice- less sound, voiced/semi-voiced sounds, the non-word repetition task and voiceless sound, the writing task of voiced/semi-voiced sounds, and special syllables were strongly related to the reading task; the related phonological awareness ability differed depending on the character type. It was suggested that the literacy of children with Down’s syndrome requires phonological awareness ability that matches the difficulty level of the character type, and that non-word recitation ability is strongly related to writing ability.
