Teaching Students with Intellectual Disabilities to Read
The research on how to teach students with intellectual disabilities to read is limited, and mirrors a significant gap in educators’ understandings (Afacan et al, 2017). We need to teach students with intellectual disabilities to read explicitly, systematically, and with phonics. The same general literacy principles apply, with modifications and adaptations—but what are those modifications and adaptations? How should we best set out to teach students with intellectual disabilities to read?
Purpose of Instruction
Students with intellectual disabilities need to learn to read vocationally, so that they can achieve independence and functionality. They ALSO need to learn to read for enjoyment and academics. We need to give all students a good literacy foundation so that they might soar! We must not hold students with intellectual disabilities back through incompetent, halfhearted reading instruction. It is important, Joseph et al (2023) note, to “explicitly teach students with intellectual disabilities comprehension strategies and when to apply those strategies” (316). Students with intellectual disabilities can learn to comprehend texts and therefore should be taught strategies to support comprehension development.
Strategies
Strategies that were found to be effective in improving the comprehension of students with intellectual disabilities include retelling, rereading, summarizing, questioning, predicting, clarifying, discussion of reading, paraphrasing, story mapping, inference, identifying main ideas, and activating background knowledge (Joseph et al, 2023). Vocabulary instruction was also found to improve comprehension. The Corrective Reading Thinking Basics program, Early Interventions in Reading, and Literacy by Design were some of the intervention programs successfully used with students with disabilities. Program-based interventions showed large effect sizes, likely because of the systematic nature of the instruction and the breadth of the interventions included in such programs (Joseph et al, 2023). This is something to keep in mind when we instruct students with intellectual disabilities: we must be cautious that, in our quest to modify material, we do not oversimplify our teaching, and instead still use a variety of evidence-based techniques.
Adaptations
Reading interventions are most frequently taught individually or in small groups. Some important adaptations for students with intellectual disabilities were having students read small sections of text and answer questions about the section immediately. This can encourage teachers to chunk material and reading instruction more strategically for students with intellectual disabilities. Another adaptation noted was that narrative text is more accessible for many students with intellectual disabilities, so teachers should choose narrative passages for reading interventions. Text complexity also matters, and teachers should work to find narrative passages that are clear and accessible, while still demonstrating literary merit and richness.
Key Takeaways
Students with intellectual disabilities can and should be taught how to read. Generally, good literacy instruction remains the same for this population, with some adaptations and modifications. Instruction should be more individualized, and should take place one-on-one or in small groups to ensure understanding of concepts before moving on. Texts used in literacy instruction and interventions should be carefully selected for accessibility. Students should be systematically taught reading comprehension strategies like summarizing, predicting, retelling, and identifying the main ideas. Overall, it is paramount that all students, including students with intellectual disabilities, learn to read in order to fully participate in their worlds. We must be very careful not to dumb down our instruction because of our prejudices about students’ abilities. Joseph et al (2023) and Afacan et al (2017) both show that students with intellectual disabilities respond well to interventions meant to improve their comprehension, indicating that students with intellectual disabilities can learn to read for meaning, for interest, and for enjoyment.
References
Afacan, K., Wilkerson, K. L., & Ruppar, A. L. (2017). Multicomponent reading interventions for students with intellectual disability. Remedial and Special Education 39(4).
Joseph, L., Ross, K., Xia, Q., Amspaugh, L. A., & Accurso, J. (2023). Reading comprehension instruction for students with intellectual disabilities: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Disability, Development, and Education 70(3): pp. 314-339.