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 shortterm
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 visuospatial
memory training in a school setting could be both
feasible and effective for individuals with DS.
