Working memory in individuals with Down syndrome: a treatment case study.

The great majority of people with Down Syndrome (DS) tend to be more limited in their short term memory (STM) and working memory (WM) abilities than other people. Moreover, research has found that individuals with DS experience relatively more difficulty storing and retrieving verbal information than they do with storing and retrieving visual information. Previous studies focusing on the enhancement of memory skills in DS generally used a rehearsal training strategy to investigate the possibility of increasing verbal memory span durably (Comblain, 1999; Conners, 2008). Therefore, these studies focused on the enhancement of short-term memory skills. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of a school-based visuo-spatial working memory training on the short-term memory and working memory skills a teenage child (A.S.) with Down’s syndrome. The results showed that A.S. improved his WM and STM performance in the trained and non-trained working memory tasks proposed. These results suggest that school-based visuo-spatial memory training in a school setting could be both feasible and effective for individuals with DS.