Increasing Comprehension for Middle School Students with Moderate Intellectual Disability on Age-Appropriate Texts.

Students with moderate intellectual disability experience a lack of comparable access to literature as compared to their nondisabled peers (Browder et al., 2009; Kliewer, 1998). Problems in access for many of these students may be attributed to low expectations and inadequate support on behalf of students as well as a lack of sufficient literacy skills instruction. Given these issues, the literature students are able to access often is not representative of their chronological age. Literacy interventions such as read-alouds have been successfully used in special and general education alike to provide students access to literature beyond their present skill level. Using a multiple-probe design, investigators read typical age-appropriate texts and examined the effectiveness of pairing texts with the picture symbols and discussion in improving student comprehension. Discussion and implications of the findings within this study are included. Literacy is traditionally described as the act of reading, decoding, and comprehending language (Hoover & Gough, 1990). Literacy affords several social and personal benefits which impact an individuals overall quality of life including perceived competence, control over life choices, personal independence, tools for organization, as well as access to content for learning, information, and leisure (Downing, 2005), and has a profound impact on the day-to-day activities of individuals throughout the life span (Downing, 2005). Literacy can also serve as a primary means to access and participate in one’s own culture through activities such as reading a newspaper to understanding the issues of importance to a particular community or reading a popular novel series (e.g. Harry Potter) to recognize references and commentary made by others who have read it (Browder et al., 2009; Janks, 2010). Students with moderate intellectual disability experience limited access to literature (Downing, 2005; Erickson & Koppenhaver, 1995; Kliewer, Biklen, & Kasa-Hendrickson, 2006). Major obstacles for accessing literature include inadequate literacy instruction and materials, low expectations for success, and negative social attitudes toward disability (Browder et al., 2009; Downing, 2005; Kliewer, 1998; Kliewer et al., 2006). Insufficient access to literacy supports, such as assistive technology or reading instruction, and inadequate instructional time have also been cited as access hindrances. A lack of adequate supports and attention to reading instruction result in a limited personal interaction with literature for these students (Downing, 2005). In addition, persons with intellectual disability often experience difficulties with memory, generalization, motivation, and adaptive behavior frequently make literacy challenging (Browder, Trela, & Jimenez, 2007; Browder et al., 2009; Downing, 2005; Kliewer, 1998; Kliewer & Landis, 1999; Turnbull, Turnbull, & Wehmeyer, 2010). For older students, difficulty accessing literature may occur due to the discrepancy between an individual’s needed supports and his or her age. Older students with intellectual disability, for example, often have support needs (e.g., representative pictures accompanying text, simplified text, text repetition) more similar to young early readers without intellectual disability than the support needs of their same aged peers without disabilities. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jordan Shurr, Department of Counseling and Special Education, 321 Education and Human Services Building, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859. Email: shurr.jordan@ gmail.com Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 2012, 47(3), 359–372 © Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities Comprehension of Typical Texts / 359 This needs-age discrepancy may limit the availability of such supports and therefore access to literature (Browder et al., 2009; Downing, 2005). Due to the importance of literacy as it relates to quality of life (e.g. perceived competence, independence) in general and on a day-to-day basis, students with moderate intellectual disability should have increased opportunities for access to literature. Literacy access for students with moderate intellectual disability can be described simply in two parts: (a) access to literature through reading and (b) access to literature through methods other than reading (Browder et al., 2009). A substantial and growing body of special education research focuses on helping students with moderate intellectual disability improve their access to literature through increased attention on reading skills. This includes research on using phonics to increase abilities in word decoding and fluency (Joseph & McCachran, 2003; Waugh, Fredrick, & Alberto, 2009), a meta-analysis of research on the effectiveness of sight word instruction (Browder & Xin, 1998), as well as use of a mixed approach to reading instruction (Allor, Mathes, Roberts, Jones, & Champlin, 2010; Otaiba & Hosp, 2004). Overall, research indicates that students with moderate intellectual disability are able to learn reading skills, which in turn increases their access to literature. However, especially for middle and high school students with moderate intellectual disability, reading skills alone often are not sufficient to access age or grade-level texts. As students with moderate intellectual disability age and the literature appropriate for their age increases in complexity and content, access to this literature via reading skills often declines (Browder et al., 2009). Access to typical age-appropriate texts, the type of literature accessed by same-aged peers without disabilities, is important for students with moderate intellectual disability. In their work on general education content, including typical age-appropriate literature and students with significant intellectual disability, Browder et al. (2007) detailed four reasons for promoting access. These include (a) to foster competence and improve the quality of life, (b) promote high expectations for students, (c) provide equitable access to instructional materials, and (d) to increase opportunities to exercise self-determination. When age-appropriate literature is available for these students, the benefits include access to the cultural icons and ideas relevant to their age group (e.g. superhero’s, movie stars), appropriately mature content, (Browder et al., 2009) rich vocabulary, and exposure to advanced literacy skills (Kluth & Darmondy-Latham, 2003). Access to literature through methods other than reading includes listening to stories read aloud either by way of technology (e.g. book on tape, computer screen reader) or by an adult or peer, also called a read-aloud. Hearing text read aloud allows students with moderate intellectual disability to access the content of literature irrespective of their reading skills. This allows students to access general ageappropriate texts that are otherwise out of reach. Wehmeyer (2006) describes the successful use of technology to provide access to the novel Moby Dick to an adult with a significant intellectual disability and limited reading skills. The participant in Wehmeyer’s research indicated that this application allowed him to enjoy previously inaccessible literature for leisure. Several studies successfully used readalouds to increase access to literature for students with moderate and severe intellectual disability (Bellon, Ogletree, & Harn, 2000; Browder, Trela, & Jimenez, 2007; Lawhon & Cobb, 2002; Skotko, Koppenhaver, & Erickson, 2004). Browder et al. (2007) found when teachers read age-appropriate adapted stories out loud, they were able to cultivate a leisure interest in literature, improve communication skills, and increase the comprehension abilities of older students with intellectual disability. In a study of the read-aloud behaviors of mothers to their daughters with Rett Syndrome, researchers found an effective and appropriate context was created to practice communication skills as well as comprehension and interaction skills (Skotko et al., 2004). Similarly, Bellon et al. (2000) found readalouds increased the spontaneous communication of a young child with autism. In addition to creating a context for communication skills, read-alouds were also found to provide opportunities for children to observe and interact with an effective model of literate behavior. Modeling literate behaviors such as this was found to be a powerful approach to teaching reading to young children (Lawhon 360 / Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities-September 2012 & Cobb, 2002). Generalization, the ability to make sense of or complete a task under unfamiliar conditions, was also associated with read-alouds as text and concepts can be presented in multiple and unique ways (Browder et al., 2007; Bellon et al., 2000). In these studies, additional supports (e.g. picture symbols and discussion) were provided to increase student comprehension and engagement with the text. Visual supports such as picture symbols or photographs accompanying text proved to be beneficial in increasing access to the content of literature for students with intellectual disability (Browder, Mims, Spooner, AhlgrimDelzell, & Lee, 2008; Browder et al., 2009; Light, Roberts, Dimarco, & Greiner, 1998; Sevcik, Romski, & Wilkinson, 1991). Slater (2002) reported the advantages of using picture symbols added to texts for both comprehension and word identification. Light, Roberts, Dimarco, Greiner (1998) also reported positive effects of visual supports for increasing the receptive communication of students with autism. In a study on low achieving English language learners, Liu (2004) found cartoon images added to high-level texts to be a successful in increasing comprehension. The positive relationship between using images to increase literacy comprehension is echoed in the general education literature (Hibbing &