Factors affecting the reading of rimes in words and nonwords in beginning readers with cognitive disabilities and typically developing readers: Explorations in similarity and difference in word recognition cue use

The exploratory research reported in this study was designed to initiate research in reading that includes children who have cognitive disabilities other than learning disabilities. Forty children, whose word recognition level was at the second-grade level, were assessed for knowledge of letter names, letter sounds, and rime recognition for high and low frequency target words and nonwords. Of these children, 20 were typically developing children and 20 were children with cognitive disabilities broadly defined. Both groups of children were found to be more similar than dissimilar in their rime-recognition accuracy, miscues, and graphemephoneme knowledge. In general, results proved to be more heuristic than concrete.