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

<strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Developmental</strong> <strong>Disabilities</strong>, 2009, 44(3), 356–366
© <strong>Division</strong> on <strong>Developmental</strong> <strong>Disabilities</strong>
Research-Based Techniques for Teach<strong>in</strong>g Early Read<strong>in</strong>g Skills
to Students with Intellectual <strong>Disabilities</strong>
Jill H. Allor, Patricia G. Mathes, Tammi Champl<strong>in</strong>, <strong>and</strong> Jennifer P. Cheatham
Southern Methodist University
Abstract: Teach<strong>in</strong>g students with <strong>in</strong>tellectual disabilities (ID) to read is extremely challeng<strong>in</strong>g. Fortunately, the
outlook for students with ID is improv<strong>in</strong>g because we now know much more about how to teach read<strong>in</strong>g to
students who struggle, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g those with ID. The central theme of this article is that read<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>struction for
students with ID must be a carefully orchestrated <strong>in</strong>tegration of key skills <strong>and</strong> strategies that are explicitly l<strong>in</strong>ked
to mean<strong>in</strong>g. Organized accord<strong>in</strong>g to the major components of read<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>struction, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g (a) oral language
<strong>and</strong> vocabulary, (b) phonological awareness, (c) phonics <strong>and</strong> word recognition, (d) fluency, <strong>and</strong> (e) comprehension,
this article describes key techniques used <strong>in</strong> research exam<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g effective methods for teach<strong>in</strong>g students
with ID to read. We provide specific examples from our research study describ<strong>in</strong>g how these skills are be<strong>in</strong>g taught
to students with ID.
Teach<strong>in</strong>g students with <strong>in</strong>tellectual disabilities
(ID) to read is extremely challeng<strong>in</strong>g. These
students face severe deficits <strong>in</strong> memory <strong>and</strong>
language that make it very difficult for them to
learn to read. Further, behavior issues may
<strong>in</strong>terfere with their learn<strong>in</strong>g. Although there
are many examples of students with ID who
successfully learn to read, most students with
ID learn very few, if any, basic read<strong>in</strong>g skills. In
fact, only 1 <strong>in</strong> 5 students with ID achieve even
m<strong>in</strong>imal literacy skills (Katims, 2001). Fortunately,
the outlook for students with ID is
improv<strong>in</strong>g because we now know much more
about how to teach read<strong>in</strong>g to students who
struggle, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g those with ID (Allor,
Mathes, Jones, & Roberts, <strong>in</strong> press; Browder,
Ahlgrim-Delzell, Courtade, Gibbs, & Flowers,
<strong>in</strong> press; Mathes & Denton, 2002; O’Connor,
The work presented <strong>in</strong> this article was supported
by Grant No. H324K040011-05 from the Institute of
<strong>Education</strong> Sciences. This article does not necessarily
reflect the positions or policies of this fund<strong>in</strong>g
agency <strong>and</strong> no official endorsement should be <strong>in</strong>ferred.
We thank the teachers <strong>and</strong> students who
participated <strong>in</strong> this research. Correspondence concern<strong>in</strong>g
this article should be addressed to Jill H.
Allor, Department of Teach<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> Learn<strong>in</strong>g, Annette
Caldwell Simmons School of <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong>
Human Development, Southern Methodist University,
P.O. Box 750381, Dallas, TX 75275-0381. Email:
jallor@smu.edu
356 / <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Developmental</strong> <strong>Disabilities</strong>-September 2009
Bocian, Beebe-Frankenberger, L<strong>in</strong>klater, <strong>in</strong>
press; Torgesen, 2002). The encourag<strong>in</strong>g
news is that we are currently gather<strong>in</strong>g evidence
<strong>in</strong>dicat<strong>in</strong>g that the same general techniques
proven to work with struggl<strong>in</strong>g readers
who have average to high IQs are also effective
for students with ID (Allor et al., <strong>in</strong> press;
Browder et al., <strong>in</strong> press).
Read<strong>in</strong>g research has advanced tremendously
<strong>in</strong> recent decades as we have learned
how good readers read <strong>and</strong> how to assist struggl<strong>in</strong>g
readers so that they can become good
readers. Theoretical models of the read<strong>in</strong>g
process reflect that good readers employ multiple
language systems as they fully process
text, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g phonology, orthography, <strong>and</strong>
the mean<strong>in</strong>g of language (Adams, 1990).
Good readers simultaneously process the <strong>in</strong>ternal
structure (i.e., complete spell<strong>in</strong>gs) of
words as they effortlessly read with expression
<strong>and</strong> deeply comprehend the mean<strong>in</strong>g of text
(Adams, 1990; Ehri, 2005). Research on effective
methods for teach<strong>in</strong>g students who struggle
to read is extensive. Effective early read<strong>in</strong>g
<strong>in</strong>terventions <strong>in</strong>clude multiple components
that are explicitly <strong>in</strong>tegrated, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g oral
language, phonological awareness, phonics,
word recognition, fluency, <strong>and</strong> comprehension
(see National Read<strong>in</strong>g Panel, 2000;
Rayner, Foorman, Perfetti, Pesetsky, & Seidenberg,
2001; Snow, Burns, & Griff<strong>in</strong>, 1998).