Using Read-Alouds of Grade-Level Biographies and Systematic Prompting to Promote Comprehension for Students With Moderate and Severe Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a modified system of least intrusive prompts on text-dependent listening comprehension for four middle-school-aged students with intellectual disability and autism during read-alouds of adapted grade-level biographies. A system of least intrusive prompts was modified by inserting a rule for answering "Wh" questions and an opportunity to hear sections of the biography again. The procedure was evaluated via a multiple probe design across students. Outcomes indicate that all students improved listening comprehension after intervention and all students maintained high levels of correct responding 2 weeks after intervention. In addition, three students generalized skills to new biographies. The need for future research and implications for practice are discussed.

Teaching Students with Moderate Intellectual Disability Who Are Emergent Readers to Comprehend Passages of Text

“…The findings from the current study also support the existing body of research supporting the use of a modified system of least intrusive prompting to teach comprehension skills to students with moderate intellectual disability (e.g., Browder et al, 2007;Mims et al, 2012). When applied to daily living skills, the system of least intrusive prompting usually provides increasing assistance for making the motoric response by telling, showing, and guiding the student to make the response (e.g., Manley, Collins, Stenhoff, & Kleinert, 2008).…”

“…The final prompt involved reading the answer itself. While prior research used this modified system of least intrusive prompting to promote listening comprehension during read-alouds (e.g., Mims et al, 2012), the current study employed a system of least intrusive prompting following repeated readings of text read by the participant.…”

“…In prior studies, picture or word arrays were provided to students with moderate intellectual disability who needed nonverbal response options (e.g., Mims et al, 2012). An advantage of relying on students' speech was that they composed their answers instead of relying on an array of options.…”

“…Drawing from prior literature, the treatment package included a graphic organizer for instruction of WH definitions (Morgan et al, 2009), time delay to preteach matching WH words to their definitions (Browder et al, 2009), and a modified system of least intrusive prompting to help students use the text to answer the target questions (Mims et al, 2012). The research questions addressed were:…”

Helping Students with Moderate and Severe Intellectual Disability Access Grade-Level Text

“…Students increased both their engagement with the text and comprehension responses. Mims, Hudson, and Browder (2012) also found that middle school students with moderate intellectual disability learned to answer comprehension questions about biographies adapted from grade-level literature (i.e., summary of original text and some picture symbol support). The intervention also incorporated a prompt hierarchy to help students locate the correct answer, beginning with re-reading smaller portions of the text that contained the answer.…”