Teaching decoding and spelling to students with intellectual disability who are AAC users

Abstract

Reading and spelling are important skills for children and adults that are AAC users, as they allow to communicate with more ease on AAC devices. Teaching reading and spelling to students with an intellectual disability (ID) and complex communication needs (CCN) who are AAC users is considered a difficult task by a majority of teachers, as verbal production is usually necessary to track student progress (Ruppar, 2015). Although there is little research on this topic, authors put forward recommendations similar to those for teaching reading to students with ID who are able to communicate verbally. A phonics approach and explicit and systematic instruction can therefore also be adopted to teach decoding and spelling to students with ID that are AAC users (Ahlgrim-Delzell et al., 2014; 2016; Browder et al., 2012). Nevertheless, certain accommodations are necessary for these students to practice decoding and to assess their progress. These accommodations may include allowing the student to point to correct answers among distractors (Ahlgrim-Delzell et al., 2014; 2016; Browder et al., 2012), as well as encouraging the student to participate in reading activities using a subvocal strategy, by rehearsing decoding in their head rather than out loud as seen in the Nonverbal Reading Approach (NRA, Coleman-Martin et al., 2005).