Strategies for Teaching Reading to Students with Severe Disabilities
From the November 2001 Education newsletter.


What is one of the biggest challenges in teaching students with severe disabilities to read, according to David Koppenhaver, an associate professor of education at Gustavus Adolphus College (MN)? Classroom teachers often don't think they're capable. As a result, those students don't receive the same high-quality instruction that other students do.

Dr. Koppenhaver notes that, in his research (see the link below), he and his colleagues found that the cognitive processes of learning to read for students with severe disabilities are almost identical to those of typically developing students. The only difference is in their ability to demonstrate skills through standard assessment measures.

That's because standard reading assessment methods used in reading instruction usually require a behavioral response, such as answering comprehension questions orally or reading out loud to demonstrate fluency. Students with disabilities such as autism or those who are nonverbal are usually unable to demonstrate what they have learned in these ways.

Drawing from his research, Dr. Koppenhaver offers the following strategies teachers and schools can use to teach and assess students with severe disabilities who are learning to read:

• Use the balance model: provide equal instruction in words, letter-sound recognition, comprehension, writing, and self-direction (enjoyment of reading).
  
  
• Letter-sound recognition should be taught in the context of real words, not in isolation. Dr. Koppenhaver notes that teaching this skill by practicing with isolated letters and sounds is the dominant model in elementary reading instruction. However, he recommends that teachers use whole words when teaching students with severe disabilities because it gives students more opportunities to practice real-world skills.

Teachers should have students manipulate letters in a word to compare differences in letter sounds. They can change one or two letters to make new words, all while learning the sounds different letters make. This method is especially useful when working with older students because the activity is more meaningful to them.

• Special educators can supplement classroom instruction by filling in the gaps in a student's understanding. Once it is determined in which areas a student is struggling (word recognition, phonics, comprehension), special educators can work with the student to strengthen his or her weak skills.
  
  
• As mentioned above, assessing reading in children with severe disabilities can be tricky because the standard assessment methods usually involve a behavioral response, such as answering questions orally or reading out loud to demonstrate fluency. Dr. Koppenhaver notes that every child can demonstrate his or her knowledge. The key for teachers is to find an approach that is meaningful and makes sense to each individual student. For example, a student with autism could demonstrate his or her knowledge of syllables by clapping. A child who is nonverbal could match pictures with names to demonstrate comprehension.

Dr. Koppenhaver admits that finding the right assessment method is hard, "but we haven't yet found a student who can't learn."

See Dr. Koppenhaver's web site for more information about his research.

Dr. Koppenhaver is a contributor to Quick-Guides to Inclusion 3, by Michael F. Ginagreco, Ph.D., a user-friendly tool to help educators include children with disabilities in their classrooms.