A model of phonological processing, language, and reading for students with mild intellectual disability

Abstract

Little is known about the relationships between phonological processing, language, and reading in children with intellectual disability (ID). We examined the structure of phonological processing in 294 school-age children with mild ID and the relationships between its components and expressive and receptive language and reading skills using structural equation modeling. Phonological processing consisted of two distinct but correlated latent abilities: phonological awareness and naming speed. Phonological awareness had strong relationships with expressive and receptive language and reading skills. Naming speed had moderate relationships with these variables. Results suggest that children with ID bring the same skills to the task of learning to read as children with typical development, highlighting the fact that phonologically based reading instruction should be considered a viable approach.

Figure 1

Best fitting model of phonological processing with two latent abilities, controlling for age. Values represent factor loadings and (standard errors). * indicates unstandardized factor loadings; standardized factor loadings for ZIP variables are always 1. The remaining coefficients are standardized. All factor loadings and correlations are significant at p < .01. No error variances are given for blending words, blending nonwords, elision, segmenting words, and segmenting nonwords because variances cannot be calculated for count variables.

Figure 2

Best fitting model of language with two latent abilities, controlling for age. Values represent standardized factor loadings and (standard errors). All factor loadings and correlations are significant at p < .01.