School of Communication Sciences and Disorders Literacy Susan Balandin

School of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Literacy

Susan Balandin



Literacy Bill of rights All persons, regardless of the extent of

their disabilities, have a basic right to use print. Beyond this general right, there are certain literacy rights that should be assured for all persons. The right to :

An opportunity to learn to read and write. Opportunity involves engagement in active participation in tasks performed with high success



The right..2. To have accessible, clear, meaningful,

culturally and linguistically appropriate text at all times. Texts, broadly defined, range from picture books to newspapers, to novels to cereal boxes, and electronic media

3. To interact with other while reading, writig or listening to a text. Interaction involves questions, comments, discussions and other communication about or related to the text



The right to 4. Life choices made available through reading

and writing competencies. Life choices include, but are not limited to, employment and employment changes, independence, community participation, and self advocacy

5. Lifelong educational opportunities incorporating literacy instruction and use. Literacy educational opportunities, regardless of when they are provided, have the potential to provide power that cannot be taken away.



The right to 6. Have teachers and other service

providers who are knowledgeable about literacy instruction and principles. Methods include, but are not limited to, instruction, assessment and the technologies required to make literacy accessible to individuals with disabilities. Principles include, but are not limited to, the beliefs that literacy is learned across places and time, and no person is too disabled to benefit from literacy learning opportunities



The right to 7. Live and learn in environments that

provide varied models of print use. Models and demonstrations of purposeful print use such as reading a recipe, paying bills, sharing a joke, or writing a letter.

Yoder, Erikson, & Koppenhaver, 1997www.gac.edu/-dkoppenh/rights.htmlLiteracy enriches our lives and allows us to

connect with the world. Balandin, 2002



Emergent Literacy Literacy learning begins at birth

and emerges over time Speech production is not a

prerequisite to literacy It is never too late to start Parents early

concerns/expectation do not include literacy



Activities Stories Songs + written name rev cognition,

letter naming Constructing stories to read Combination of approaches to suit eh

learner Others?



Recent studies People with DD have limited reading

skills Koppenhave, Pierce, Steelamn, & Yoder, 1995

Assessing reading skills of people with intellectual disability Cupples & Iacono, 2000

Those with CCN associated with physical disability Dahlgren Sandberg, 2001



Include Developing phonological awareness

and reading assessment tasks for people with Down syndrome

Non spoken response forms Develop tasks that underlie reading

and reading related skills (e.g., phonological awareness)

PA provides the basis for grapheme-phoneme awareness



Strategies

Word analysis and whole word approaches are effective

Word analysis encourages and supports generalization of skills to words not taught

Assessment of Phonological awareness and reading (APAR)



Assessment of Phonological Awareness and Reading

READING TESTS Reading real words Reading non words Comprehension of written words Comprehension of written sentences Comprehension of written texts



Phonological awareness tests

Blending real words Blending non words Phoneme counting- adults/children Phoneme analysis



Listening comprehension

Sentence plausibility Grammaticality judgments Comprehension of texts

http:/www.med.monash.edu.au/general-practice/units/cddh/accessability2



Strategies Accessible word reading intervention Australian Mouseover- Rob Seilerhttp://www.elr.com.au/apar/bropwser/index.htmInternet Explorer is best for these sitesMy Browserhttp://www.elr.com.au/apar/browser/

index.htm



Lessons

Limited availability of computers Limited or no experience of

independent use of computer Individuals difference in willingness

to work on reading Importance of customization



Web access for literacy development People with limited literacy skills and

physical access problems Developed a web site that:

Required basic literacy skills Incorporated literacy training Facilitated use of various access

techniques Reading intervention web site that evolved

through increasingly advanced versions Reading other web texts



Lessons http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/AccessAbilit

y Most people wanted to improve Problems with reading and PA Most texts on web too hard Web sites need to be trialed by users of

varying proficiency Technical difficulties must be resolved

independent of the intervention or people give up



Cont. High level of interest in web but it must

be made accessible and used on a regular basis

Many people will require ongoing assistance

Access to technical assistance is important

Focus groups are useful to evaluate projects at different stages

Documents

School of Communication Sciences and Disorders Literacy Susan Balandin