Word Recognition and the Nature of Reading Difficulty in Children with An Intellectual Disability: A Review

IT HAS OFTEN been assumed that, given appropriate instruction, children with intellectual disability can reach a level of achievement in reading commensurate with their level of mental development. This paper reviews evidence to the contrary, with particular reference to the skills required for word recognition. Similarities between specific reading disability and reading difficulty in children of low intelligence are noted, especially in deficits in short‐term memory. Much of the research with children with an intellectual disability has focussed on the teaching of sight‐word recognition; however, studies of decoding skills indicate that ability to acquire and use a knowledge of spelling patterns is a major problem underlying difficulty in independent word recognition by these children. Efforts to teach these children more efficient decoding skills have met with only limited success.