Literacy for Students With Severe Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to propose a conceptual foundation for early literacy instruction for students with severe developmental disabilities. The two primary outcomes in the conceptual model are (a) enhanced quality of life through shared literature and (b) increased independence as a reader. Guidelines are offered for promoting shared literature by increasing opportunities for accessing literature and teaching access skills to students. For increasing students' independence as readers, recommendations are provided on teaching the components of reading outlined by the National Reading Panel. The proposed model will help develop guidance on the strategies for literacy instruction for students with severe developmental disabilities.

Teaching phonics to groups of middle school students with autism, intellectual disabilities and complex communication needs

“…The paucity of research into phonics acquisition for students with intellectual disabilities who have reported IQ's significantly below 45 and for those who are unable to verbally participate in traditional phonics lessons requiring oral production of sounds is well documented (Bailey, Angell, & Stoner, 2011;Browder et al, 2008;Keefe & Coppeland, 2011;Morgan, Cuskelly, & Moni, 2011). Thus, the purpose of the current study was to determine if the direct instruction using a structured curriculum can improve phonics acquisition by middle school students with IQ's below 45 and comorbid complex communication needs.…”

Modeling Response to Reading Intervention in Children With Down Syndrome: An Examination of Predictors of Differential Growth

“…Societal expectations for the level of reading skill to be attained by children with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities are increasing (Browder et al, 2009). Parental expectations for their children are increasing as well.…”

Teaching early reading skills to children with severe intellectual disabilities using Headsprout Early Reading

“…Phonics explicitly teaches how to hear and manipulate the phonemes in spoken language, phonemic awareness and how to read phonetically by blending phonemes together into words (Finnegan, 2012).The National Reading Panel (2000) summarized the five component skills of reading: an understanding that written words represent spoken words and have meaning; recognizing and manipulating the separate sounds in words (phonemic awareness); linking spoken sounds (phonemes) to letters (graphemes) which can be blended together to form words (phonics skills); reading fluently; and understanding what is being read (text comprehension). Hulme and Snowling (2013) described the three cognitive foundations of learning to read, which have been shown to account for individual differences in, and be predictive of, reading skills: Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) skills-a visual-verbal learning mechanism, letter knowledge and phonemic awareness.Reading has historically been de-emphasized for students with intellectual disabilities (Browder et al, 2009). It has been assumed that reading is linked to cognitive ability or IQ, and that expressive language and communication skills are necessary before teaching reading can begin (Browder et al, 2009).…”

“…Hulme and Snowling (2013) described the three cognitive foundations of learning to read, which have been shown to account for individual differences in, and be predictive of, reading skills: Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) skills-a visual-verbal learning mechanism, letter knowledge and phonemic awareness.Reading has historically been de-emphasized for students with intellectual disabilities (Browder et al, 2009). It has been assumed that reading is linked to cognitive ability or IQ, and that expressive language and communication skills are necessary before teaching reading can begin (Browder et al, 2009). Prerequisite literacy skills, such as picture matching, have been targeted (Lawson, Layton, Goldbart, Lacey, & Miller, 2012), and when literacy teaching has occurred, it has often focused on recognition of key words using a sight word approach (Porter, 2005).…”

“…Reading has historically been de-emphasized for students with intellectual disabilities (Browder et al, 2009). It has been assumed that reading is linked to cognitive ability or IQ, and that expressive language and communication skills are necessary before teaching reading can begin (Browder et al, 2009).…”