Orthographic Support for Word Learning in Clinical Populations: A Systematic Review
Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
Clark, G. T., & Reuterskiöld, C. (2021).
Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 52(3), 937-948.
This systematic review investigates the effect of orthographic supports on word learning in children, birth to 18 years old, with a disability (e.g., developmental language disorder, autism, Down syndrome, dyslexia, intellectual disability, hearing impairment, cerebral palsy).
Not stated
From database inception to December 10, 2019
Experimental designs; quasi-experimental designs
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Orthographic supports [i.e., "providing both a nonspoken mental image, in the form of a photograph, and a spoken and written linguistic code" (p. 944)] demonstrate positive moderate-to-large effect sizes on word learning training, particularly for picture naming posttests, in children and adolescents with a variety of disabilities (i.e., developmental language disorder, Down syndrome, autism, and dyslexia).
For children with Down syndrome, orthographic supports demonstrated no difference in spoken word-to-picture matching or word repetition accuracy as compared to a lack of orthography support. Children and adolescents with Down syndrome demonstrated similar benefits in word reading ability from orthography support as their typically developing peers.
For children on the autism spectrum, orthographic supports demonstrated no significant difference in spoken word-to-picture matching in one study and significant effects in another study. Words trained with orthography supports demonstrated no significant difference in reaction time as compared to words trained without orthography. Children on the autism spectrum demonstrated better performance on picture naming and new word learning with orthography supports compared to typically developing peers.
