59 Introduction Since 1966 there have been reports in the literature suggesting that children with Down’s syndrome can achieve functional levels of literacy and that reading might accelerate speech and language acquisition (Duffen, 1976; Orme, Fisher & Griggs, 1966; Rhodes, Gooch, Siegelman, Behrns & Metzger, 1969; Saunders & Collins, 1972). All these authors used case study evidence to argue f...