Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities - Division on ...

plied systematic prompt<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> the use of a
task analysis to teach shared stories to students
with moderate <strong>and</strong> severe <strong>in</strong>tellectual disabilities.
In this study, they exam<strong>in</strong>ed the effects
of tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g teachers to engage students <strong>in</strong> a
shared story us<strong>in</strong>g a book adapted from middle
school literature. Results <strong>in</strong>dicated an <strong>in</strong>crease
<strong>in</strong> participation <strong>in</strong> the read<strong>in</strong>g activities.
Although, this study implemented systematic
<strong>in</strong>struction, adaptations would need
to be made for students with visual impairments
<strong>in</strong> both the adaptation of the book <strong>and</strong>
mode for student respond<strong>in</strong>g (e.g., salient objects,
touch response).
Browder, Mims, Spooner, Ahlgrim-Delzell,
<strong>and</strong> Lee (<strong>in</strong> press) also applied systematic
prompt<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> the use of a task analysis to
<strong>in</strong>crease participation <strong>and</strong> communication of
students with significant multiple disabilities.
In this study, they exam<strong>in</strong>ed the effects of
<strong>in</strong>dividualiz<strong>in</strong>g a task analysis to help <strong>in</strong>crease
student engagement <strong>in</strong> a shared story. In addition,
books were adapted with salient objects
as all participat<strong>in</strong>g students required the use
of salient objects. Results <strong>in</strong>dicated an <strong>in</strong>crease
<strong>in</strong> participation <strong>and</strong> communication <strong>in</strong>
the shared story with all three participat<strong>in</strong>g
students. Once aga<strong>in</strong>, this study demonstrates
the importance of systematic <strong>in</strong>struction, but
adaptations would still need to be made for
students with visual impairments.
Although studies like those by Skotko et al.
(2004) <strong>and</strong> Browder, Mims, et al. (<strong>in</strong> press)
offer guidance for plann<strong>in</strong>g shared stories,
there currently are no studies demonstrat<strong>in</strong>g
their applicability to students with visual impairments
<strong>and</strong> significant <strong>in</strong>tellectual disabilities.
An extension to this population is especially
important because students who have
both visual impairments <strong>and</strong> severe <strong>in</strong>tellectual
disabilities present multiple challenges to
literacy learn<strong>in</strong>g. Due to the complex comb<strong>in</strong>ation
of disabilities <strong>and</strong> earlier views about
“eligibility” for literacy, they may have had
little to no prior literacy <strong>in</strong>struction. Because
of this, they may not underst<strong>and</strong> the most
basic conventions of a read aloud like <strong>in</strong>teract<strong>in</strong>g
with a book <strong>and</strong> respond<strong>in</strong>g to questions
about text. These students may also need
to build language concepts concurrently with
literacy exposure <strong>and</strong> knowledge. For example,
students may not underst<strong>and</strong> even literal
concepts presented <strong>in</strong> the book like “tree” or
“box.” F<strong>in</strong>ally, students may need many repetitions
with a book to underst<strong>and</strong> the story
<strong>and</strong> be able to produce comprehension responses.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate a
strategy for engag<strong>in</strong>g students with visual impairments
<strong>and</strong> severe <strong>in</strong>tellectual disabilities
<strong>in</strong> literacy <strong>in</strong>struction through the use of a
shared story. Specifically, the study evaluated
whether a least-to-most prompt<strong>in</strong>g system
would <strong>in</strong>crease the number of <strong>in</strong>dependent
comprehension responses dur<strong>in</strong>g a storybased
lesson.
Method
Participants <strong>and</strong> Sett<strong>in</strong>g
Participants for this study <strong>in</strong>cluded two students
with significant <strong>in</strong>tellectual disabilities
who were visually impaired. Participat<strong>in</strong>g students
were required to meet the follow<strong>in</strong>g
criteria: (a) classified by the school system as
hav<strong>in</strong>g a “severe or profound” <strong>in</strong>tellectual disabilities
(IQ <strong>and</strong> adaptive behaviors 55), (b)
developmental levels below 1 year as measured
by an adapted behavior scale, <strong>and</strong> (c)
receiv<strong>in</strong>g services for visual impairments.
Teachers <strong>in</strong> a large urban school system <strong>in</strong> the
Southeast were asked to identify students who
met these eligibility criteria. Student eligibility
was then verified by review<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>formation
provided from the student’s psychological
evaluations.
Three students were <strong>in</strong>itially identified who
met the criteria to participate. Only two students
completed the study as the third had
compet<strong>in</strong>g self stimulatory behavior that <strong>in</strong>terfered
with mak<strong>in</strong>g the literacy responses. Although
this student began to show some <strong>in</strong>terest
<strong>in</strong> the stories, the compet<strong>in</strong>g behavior
was not adequately reduced <strong>in</strong> the timeframe
of the study to be able to prompt the comprehension
responses.
Demographic <strong>in</strong>formation for the two participat<strong>in</strong>g
students is shown <strong>in</strong> Table 1. The
two students attended two different public
schools <strong>and</strong> received their <strong>in</strong>struction <strong>in</strong> self
conta<strong>in</strong>ed special education classrooms for
students with severe disabilities. For Student 1,
most assessments <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>terventions were conducted
<strong>in</strong> a separate tutorial room for <strong>in</strong>dividualized
literacy <strong>in</strong>struction; although, general-
Increas<strong>in</strong>g Comprehension / 411