New research article with the MICARE seal!

Marcela Tenorio, Andrés Aparicio and Paulina Arango, research associates at MICARE, are co-authors of this study that analyzes the literacy environments in the homes of children with Down’s Syndrome in Chile. The article was also published by Ricardo Rosas of CEDETi UC and Katherine Strasser of the School of Psychology of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

Summary:

Home Literacy Environments (HLE) play a fundamental role in the development of reading and writing skills in children. There are HLE studies with families of children with Down’s Syndrome (DS) that show similar results, but the characteristics of HLE for Latin American families of children with DS remain unexplored.

This study analyzes HLE in a group of 161 families of children with DS between the ages of 3 and 12, residing in urban areas of Chile. Data were collected through an online survey.

The results showed differences in the number of literacy materials, the linguistic environment, and parents’ beliefs and expectations. A better HLE was observed in families with highly educated parents. This descriptive evidence is needed for both policymakers and national funding agencies to encourage more experimental studies in this area.