Reading and spelling among nonvocal children with cerebral palsy: Influence of home and school literacy environment

In literacy research, home literacy experiences and exposure to print have been ascribed a contributing role in later reading development along with metalinguistic and other cognitive skills. In a study on reading and spelling skills in nonvocal children the home and school literacy experiences of 35 children with cerebral palsy were studied by means of questionnaires. The questionnaires were completed by the parents and teachers. The answers from the disability group were compared with the answers from two comparison groups, one matched for mental age and sex and the other for sex and IQ. The results revealed few differences in the home literacy experiences of the three groups. The children of all three groups had access to a variety of printed materials, and there were no differences in the parents' reading habits or in their values and high priority given to literacy. The disabled children took a passive role in story reading with little linguistic interaction, and the parents took the active part. The results indicated that home literacy experiences in the groups studied at best had a marginal influence on reading development. Individual differences in speech and language abilities were proposed to have higher explanatory value of the low literacy skills found among nonvocal children.