Background: We Love Reading (WLR) is a community-based reading intervention aimed at cultivating an interest in reading for pleasure among children through mobilising local community members to establish informal libraries and organise read-aloud sessions in public spaces. The programme targets primarily children between the ages 4-10 but is also…

Research demonstrates that phonological skills provide the basis of reading acquisition and are a primary processing deficit in dyslexia. This consensus has led to the development of effective methods of reading intervention. However, a single phonological deficit is not sufficient to account for the heterogeneity of individuals with dyslexia, and…

This study investigated the costs of different summer reading programs and compared costs to the benefits of summer school as a way to avoid retaining students not reading proficiently at the end of third grade. Per pupil costs ranged from US$1,665 to US$2,194. The average cost was US$1,887 (range: US$266-US$5,552) with 82% of overall expenses…

Providing a child with reading difficulties with the appropriate reading intervention as early as possible is critical to prevent future academic failure. As reading is composed of several sub-components (phonology, orthography, fluency, comprehension), choosing the appropriate intervention may be confusing. Here, we attempt to provide an…

Evidence suggests that reading interventions found to be effective with typically developing children may also be effective with children with developmental disabilities (DD). The Headsprout® Early Reading programme (HER) is an online reading programme accessible at home or at school. Previous research using HER with children with DD has been…

Background: Beginning reading skills are often taught using phonics. Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of phonics with typically developing students, but less research has evaluated this method with students with intellectual disabilities. Method: This paper evaluated the computerized phonics-based intervention Headsprout Early Reading®…

This study investigated the use of an adapted shared reading protocol with three children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in home settings. Using a multiple baseline across participants design, this investigation replicated and extended a previous investigation by Browder et al. to children with ASD and home settings. In addition, this study…

A canine-assisted reading program, a form of animal-assisted intervention (AAI), is a goal-oriented program that incorporates trained animals--particularly canines--in formal human services. In recent decades, the positive effects of human-animal interaction in supporting the social, psychological, and physiological needs of humans have been…

Background: A cost-effective method to address reading delays is to use computer-assisted learning, but these techniques are not always effective. Methods: We evaluated a commercially available computer system that uses visual mnemonics, in a randomised controlled trial with 78 English-speaking children (mean age 7 years) who their schools…

Despite the widespread use of Orton-Gillingham (OG) based approaches to dyslexia remediation, empirical support documenting its effectiveness is lacking. Recently, Chia and Houghton demonstrated the effectiveness of the OG approach for remediation of dyslexia in Singapore. As a conceptual replication and extension of that research, we report…

Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) require instructional programs that simultaneously address academic content, interfering behavior, and potential gaps in prerequisite skills for a given curriculum. This study examined the impact of an intervention package consisting of contingent reinforcement and match-to-sample training on the…

This case study report calls on school-community leaders to consider a made-in-Canada approach that raises literacy rates, prevents early school leaving and breathes life back into small towns. This step-by-step guidebook provides a practical toolkit and worksheets based on the concrete experiences of the "L'ÉcoRéussite" program, which…

Traditionally, education in various forms has been used as a tool to change values and behavior in children regarding the environment. This study reports findings from the We Love Reading Program that utilizes the reading of Social Stories in various communities in Jordan to address the environmental problems of Jordan. Results indicated the…

A fairly recent definition of reading disability (RD) is that in the form of a hybrid model. The model views RD as a latent construct that is manifested through various observable unexpected impairments in reading-related skills and through inadequate response to intervention. The current report evaluated this new conceptualization of RD from an…

To evaluate the relative efficacy of two reading programs with and without adjunctive stimulant medication for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and comorbid reading disorder (ADHD+RD). Sixty-five children (7-11 years in age) were assigned randomly to one of three intensive remedial academic programs (phonologically or…