This chapter addresses research-based literacy instruction for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It begins with a discussion of these disabilities, highlighting some common impairments that exist across such disability labels which can make literacy learning a challenge. Examples are provided that outline ways to address literacy skills, specifically in the area of reading. In addition, this chapter invites teachers to consider the ways in which traditional forms of literacy instruction can result in barriers to some students’ participation in literacy learning and encourages finding ways to remove such barriers so that all students, including those with more significant forms of disability, can benefit.
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, readers will be able to
- define what it means to presume competence in the learning potential of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and discuss the significance in doing so;
- identify common barriers to literacy learning that often exist in classroom settings for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities and describe ways to remove these barriers;
- discuss evidence-based ways to instruct students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency;
- design instructional reading activities and experiences for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities that effectively meet their needs in skill development while also maintaining their meaningful participation in the inclusive literacy classroom.