Reading comprehension is a critical academic skill that permeates all academic subjects. Students with autism spectrum disorder are more likely to struggle with reading comprehension, especially as they enter secondary education. Therefore, evidence-based interventions to support middle school students with autism in developing reading…

Reading disabilities are the most common type of referral in schools. In non-RTI settings, evaluation of reading disabilities requires comprehensive individual evaluation of cognitive abilities and reading achievement (basic reading, reading fluency, and reading comprehension). The current study focuses on the measurement of reading comprehension…

Nonverbal Learning Disability (NLD) has been the focus of four decades of neuropsychological research. However, it has yet to be included as a diagnostic category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (i.e., currently in its fifth edition, DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Many of the characteristics associated…

The growth of reading and cognitive skills is crucial for children's development. This study examined the utility of incorporating a cognitive framework for reading in intervention design among struggling readers receiving National Institute for Learning Development (NILD) Educational Therapy® over a 3- to 5-year period. Evidence from this…

Students who have problems comprehending textual material tend to experience failing grades, peer rejection, and even social isolation. Furthermore, students with poor reading comprehension demonstrate poor academic performance in all subjects, not due to difficulty in learning specific subject content (i.e., math, history, etc.), but rather their…

Executive function skills have a direct link to reading comprehension (Carretti, Borella, Cornoldi, & De Beni, 2009). Specifically, cognitive flexibility and working memory have been shown as a significant contributor to reading comprehension (Cain, Oakhill, & Bryant, 2004; Cartwright, 2002). Understanding the link between cognitive…

American Indian students exhibit significant delays in academic skills and are at greater risk of school leaving or dropout than mainstream peers. A core component of these academic difficulties are persistent reading deficits across grades, but little research exists on the underlying foundation of these reading deficits. The purpose of this…

The purpose of this study was to compare the cognitive processing profiles of school-age children (ages 7 to 17) who met criteria for underachievement in oral reading accuracy based on three different methods: 1) use of a regression-based IQ-achievement discrepancy only (REGonly), 2) use of a low-achievement cutoff only (LAonly), and 3) use of a…

The lack of academic success by American adolescents has been of grave concern for both researchers and practitioners for many decades. While many American adolescents struggle in school, some students are at a greater risk than their peers based on personal characteristics such as race, socioeconomic status, and motivation. The low levels of…

Reading is a complex act mediated by cognitive and sociocultural constructs that include classroom discourse and personal epistemology. This study explored the epistemic beliefs underpinning the discourse of four third-grade, male struggling readers and sought to understand how these beliefs unfolded during the critical-analytic reading…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students with significant cognitive impairments make measurable gains in reading skills as measured by the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests--Revised when taught using Direct Instruction reading programs. Additionally, the study explored teacher perceptions of the effectiveness of Direct Instruction…

Studies by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, 2009) indicate that the inability to comprehend text is one of the primary reasons students perform poorly in school Reading difficulties often persist into adulthood with 23% of U.S. adults only meeting basic reading proficiency levels (NCES, 2004). To address this problem, it is…

Reading disorders are a growing concern facing schools. Observational studies have shown that without intervention, the reading issues will be maintained over time. More specifically, phonological processing deficits, the most basic of reading skills, will remain without mediation. Early intervention in the form of individual and group tutoring…

This study assesses reading processes and/or strategies needed to deploy deep processing that could push learners towards syntactic-based constructions in L2 classrooms. Research has found L2 acquisition to present varying degrees of success and/or fossilization (Bley-Vroman 1989, Birdsong 1992 and Sharwood Smith 1994). For example, learners have…