Supporting Literacy for Students with Developmental Disabilities Literacy Development

Getting (Re)Connected 2

Continuum of Literacy Instruction Emergent Literacy Learning about print and sound Early Literacy Learning to read Conventional Literacy Reading to learn / comprehension 3

Components of Reading Code Related Reading Process: reader’s ability to understand the structure of print Meaning Related Reading Process: refers to global understanding of printed words and sentences 4

Learning to To Read Code related reading process Phonological awareness Alphabet knowledgePrint conceptsEmergent writing Meaning based reading process Listening comprehensionVocabulary Grammatical understanding Background knowledge Text structures: narrative, informational 5

Literacy Development Emergent Literacy Joint attention, interaction turn taking, print concepts Early Literacy Literacy partner guiding reading Written symbols have meaning Conventional Literacy Independence when interacting with text Reading for different purposes 6

Learning to read O Reading is complex O Supporting a student to learn to read means working on multiple areas O Balanced Literacy: focus on interests with both code related and meaning making skills O Improvements in one area don’t cross over to the other areas (only working on sight words or decoding will not improve comprehension skills) O It doesn’t matter what age a student is at – it matters what stage of literacy development s/he is at! 7

Instructional Challenges O Differences in life experience and background knowledge O Social communication differences O Differences in cognitive processing and learning style 8

Instructional Challenges O Cognitive Processing O Slow speed of information processing O Limited short-term memory O Narrower focus of general knowledge O Difficulties with language O Poor attention skills O Distracted by other stimuli O Difficulties with generalization and problem solving 9

At the classroom level ① Print in the environment ② Opportunities for reading and writing O Adapted books O Visual supports O Balanced literacy experiences ③ Interactive instructional strategies for book reading ④ Direct instruction 10

At the individual level 1. Knowledgeable educators 2. Student has a means of communication / interaction 3. Repetition with variety 4. Cognitive engagement / active participation 5. Cognitive clarity 6. Personal connection with the curriculum 11

At the community level 1. Provides / supports participation in employment, post secondary, community and living on own opportunities 2. Gives a means to express / explore personal interests 3. Facilitates connections to others 4. Offers access to technology for personal and work related reasons 12