Fragile X Syndrome: Memory Skills and the Emergence of Reading in Males

This chapter reports on a pattern of memory strengths and weaknesses observed in males with Fragile X Syndrome (FXS). In addition, some preliminary findings on the relationships between memory, sequencing skills, and word-level reading skills are explored against the framework of typically developing memory and reading skills. Females with FXS present a much wider range of cognitive deficits and psychological dysfunction therefore this chapter focuses on affected males. FXS is the most prevalent form of heritable mental retardation in the world. It affects approximately 1 in 4, 000 males and 1 in 8, 000 females. Individuals with FXS possess a profile of relative strengths and weaknesses. When assessing higher levels of cognitive functioning, it appears that males with FXS have difficulty integrating past experiences with present and with abstract reasoning. Memory and reading are dynamically intertwined. Increases in memory serve literacy, and increases in reading skill serve to enrich the knowledge base or schemata on which memory resides.