par Ferey, D.;Sidki-Mangin, E.;Serniclaes, Willy 
Référence Neuropsychiatrie de l'enfance et de l'adolescence, 64, 7, page (436-444)
Publication Publié, 2016-11
Référence Neuropsychiatrie de l'enfance et de l'adolescence, 64, 7, page (436-444)
Publication Publié, 2016-11
Article révisé par les pairs
| Résumé : | Background and objectives The majority of visually impaired children who learn Braille do so without difficulty. However some of these children struggle to learn Braille and cannot automatize it. At present, no French standardized evaluation is available for this population. The aim of this study is to fill this gap by setting up a screening test to identify difficulties in written language in children who read Braille (DD-LEB acronym in French). Method Prerequisites for written language (phonological awareness, phonemic perception, rapid automatized naming – RAN, alphabetical knowledge, tactile attention and memory span) and performances in Braille (reading and writing of words and pseudo-words) were assessed with designed and adapted tasks in 28 French Braille readers aged between 6 and 15 years. Results Most of the participants were able to complete the whole DD-LEB test, showing that it was suited for assessing written language performances in Braille. Their results from the DD-LEB were compared to previously obtained data of sighted children on existing tasks. Differences in phonemic perception and reading speed were evidenced between Braille readers and sighted children. Braille readers exhibited an enhanced perception of a vowel inside a consonant cluster, suggesting a higher sensitivity to allophones, comparable to the one evidenced in people with dyslexia. Among possible prerequisites for written language in Braille, tactile attention, rapid automatized naming and short time memory proved to be relevant. Braille performances also depended on the chronological age, but they did not depend on the age at the beginning of reading instruction. Finally, phonological awareness and phonemic perception did not seem to be related to reading performances. Perspectives These results pave the way for further research, which is currently lacking in this area. More data are needed in order to define standardized norms for the DD-LEB, taking account of the education level. These norms could be used by speech and language pathologists to assess and guide rehabilitation. Also, various questions remain about the nature of mechanisms in Braille, the role of phonological awareness and phonemic perception for learning to read and write in Braille, and more widely about the question of the potential existence of dyslexia in Braille. One of these questions pertains to the role of phonological awareness and phonemic perception for learning to read in Braille. The present study did not evidence a relationship between the quality of phonemic representations and reading performances with Braille, an intriguing result which needs further research. |
