Spelling abilities of school-aged children with Williams syndrome.
Students with Williams syndrome spell better when their reading program includes systematic phonics plus explicit spelling lessons.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Greiner de Magalhães et al. (2022) tested the kids with Williams syndrome. Ages ranged from 6 to 16.
They gave each child a spelling test and a reading test. Then they asked parents which reading program the school used.
The team looked for links between reading method and spelling scores.
What they found
Kids taught with systematic phonics spelled better. The link was strong.
Reading skill and spelling skill moved together. One rose, the other rose.
Schools using explicit spelling lessons inside the phonics program got the highest marks.
How this fits with other research
Lim et al. (2016) extends this finding. They showed that even students with severe ID and complex needs can learn letter sounds when taught in small groups with the ALL phonics curriculum.
Bruns et al. (2004) and Poppes et al. (2010) give context. They mapped cognitive skills in Prader-Willi syndrome, another rare genetic condition. Their work helps us see that each syndrome has its own profile, so we must pick tools that match.
Together, the papers say: systematic phonics works across different genetic disorders, but you still need to know the learner’s profile.
Why it matters
If you serve a student with Williams syndrome, ask the school which reading program they use. Push for one that teaches letter sounds step-by-step and folds in spelling rules. Track both reading and spelling each week; gains in one should show up in the other.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
AIMS: We examined the relation between spelling ability and word-reading ability in children with Williams syndrome (WS). METHODS: Eighty 9-17-year-olds with genetically-confirmed WS completed standardized tests of spelling, word reading, and intellectual ability; 45 also completed tests of phonological awareness and vocabulary. Reading instruction method was classified as Phonics or Other. RESULTS: Spelling ability varied widely. Although at the group level, spelling standard scores (SSs) were significantly lower than word-reading SSs, at the individual level, this difference was significant for fewer than half the participants. Spelling and reading SSs were highly correlated, even after controlling for intellectual ability. Students taught to read using systematic phonics instruction had significantly higher spelling SSs than those taught to read using other approaches, even after controlling for intellectual ability. Spelling ability contributed significant unique variance to word-reading ability, beyond the effects of phonological awareness, vocabulary, and reading instruction method. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are consistent with Ehri's Word Identity Amalgamation Theory. In combination with previous meta-analytic findings for typically developing children (Graham & Santangelo, 2014) our results suggest that children with WS are likely to benefit from the inclusion of systematic spelling instruction as part of a systematic phonics approach to teaching word reading.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2022 · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1987.tb00212.x