A systematic literature review was conducted to determine the effects of reading comprehension instruction beyond vocabulary instruction for students with intellectual disabilities. Database and ancestral searches from 2000 to 2018 were conducted to identify experimental and quasi-experimental studies that were published in peer-reviewed journals.…

The rapid growth of inclusive higher education opportunities for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) has contributed to improvements in students' academics, employment, social, and independent living outcomes. However, many college programs lack a focus on functional literacy, a critical skill for success in…

Despite the importance of reading comprehension, many secondary students with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) struggle with this skill. Students with ID also experience greater challenges in foundational literacy skills (i.e., skills related to phonological awareness) and the cognitive skills temporal processing and nonverbal reasoning (Van…

This study examined the effectiveness of a Derived Relational Responding (DRR) program in improving reading comprehension accuracy among upper elementary students without intellectual or developmental disabilities who struggle to meet grade-level reading standards. Addressing a gap in current interventions, the study investigated whether DRR,…

Text comprehension can be facilitated in many ways, including enabling the listener to see pictures illustrating the story, to read along silently, or to read along aloud. The purpose of this study was to determine whether any of these three supports facilitated text comprehension in adults with intellectual and/or developmental disability (IDD).…

Modified books are frequently used as comprehension supports for students with extensive support needs (ESN), despite limited evaluations of their creation process or impact on comprehension. This study evaluates the impact of individualized book and comprehension question modifications made through a systematic decision-making process on student…

This study aims to describe the phonological awareness, reading comprehension, fluent reading levels and types of errors in the reading of individuals with DS who can read and to examine the relationship between these variables. This relational descriptive study consists of 44 individuals with DS aged between 7 and 30 years who can read. 'Early…

This practitioner article provides practitioners with instructional techniques to support reading and language comprehension development for children who demonstrate slower growth, including those with autism and concurrent intellectual disability.

Both reading and language skills are necessary for children to see success in academic and everyday life settings. This manuscript describes in detail four key instructional techniques used to target reading and language development in struggling and early readers, including children with both autism and cognitive disabilities. The techniques…

The purpose of this article is to describe recommendations for providing evidence-based literacy instruction to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), including students with comorbid autism spectrum disorder (autism). We identify six evidence-based practices, highlight key research that supports each practice, and then…

Independent access to text is important to employment and critical for postsecondary success; however, literacy deficits make access to text challenging for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Limited access to employment policies and procedures leaves individuals at a disadvantage. This study examines the text comprehension of employee…

This study asked Teachers of the Visually Impaired to evaluate a shared reading intervention for Students with Intellectual Disabilities and Visual Impairments and how they felt about their preparedness to teach reading. There has been little research on the student population's literacy skills acquisition. For this study, TVIs evaluated stories…

Background: The Internet provides individuals with intellectual disability with access to information and participation in a broader society, but it also presents risks when content is difficult to comprehend. This study aimed to test whether students with intellectual disability enhanced their comprehension of online blogs as a function of the…

This study examined the response of two students in the Southwestern United States with autism spectrum disorder and IQ in the intellectual disability range to a comprehensive, text-based reading intervention. The intervention, "Friends on the Block," includes multiple strands of literacy providing explicit instruction in phonics,…

National reading data indicate that students with intellectual disabilities (ID) fall behind their peers in reading. Reading is important for academic achievement and learning to read can increase independence in several settings including school, work, home, and community or social (Wilson & Hunter, 2010). Students with ID have historically…