Given the role that narratives play in organizing experience, as well as their contribution to social interaction and literacy development, children's narrative skills have received considerable research attention. This paper provides a comprehensive review and thematic analysis of 30 studies conducted over the last three decades on the narrative skills of children and adolescents with Down syndrome. Themes include the global structure of their narratives, narrative comprehension, and use of vocabulary and grammar. The review demonstrates that youth with Down syndrome have basic narrative skills, generally consistent with individuals of the same mental age or language ability, suggesting a delayed rather than an atypical pattern of development. The narrative profile emerging from the review indicates several ways narratives may be facilitated in children and adolescents with Down syndrome. These include a greater focus on personal narratives accompanied by the use of visual supports. The review revealed very few intervention studies, suggesting an important direction for future research.Oral narratives have often been described as a primary and universal way that people organize and make sense of their experience (Polkinghorne 1988; Wells 1986). Indeed, narratives or 'stories' of past, future, or imagined events are ubiquitous in our daily lives; they are present in conversations, ceremonies, books, television, and play, ranging from early pretend to video games. Thus, the ability to understand and tell stories has an important role in social and communicative functioning. Moreover, given that stories are often read aloud by educators in early childhood settings and expected to J Dev Phys Disabil
She studies how siblings co-construct meaning in their relationship during teaching, play, imitation, and conflict interactions in early childhood. . The focus of his research is on the nature of polyadic conflict involving three or more family members at home and also on the topic of trust in sibling and peer relationships.SANDRA MARTIN-CHANG is an associate professor in the . Her research interests have focused on sibling conflicts and how parents administer justice in the family.
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