The ability to read promotes academic success and serves as an essential prerequisite skill for many postsecondary opportunities. However, developing proficient reading skills is particularly difficult for many individuals with intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Reading is an important life skill for all individuals,…

In the past 2 decades, researchers (often working closely with parents, teachers, and other school staff members) have conducted studies that have substantially increased understanding how to effectively teach children and adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) to read. This research focus has been fueled by increased societal expectations…

The following insights into the reading skills of 312 participants in adult basic and secondary education programs are based on a principal components analysis of reading components' contributions to variance in reading comprehension. Overall, 75% of variance was explained by four composite variables representing word skills, language…

The authors reviewed studies on teaching reading comprehension to students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) with a focus on text (academic reading) comprehension and sight word (functional) comprehension. Eleven of 754 studies met the inclusion criteria: participants with ASD, published in English in a peer-reviewed journal, and use of an…

The study of reading in restricted contexts ultimately short changes children. The continuous proliferation of research data results in teacher training courses that are overloaded with marginally relevant material. A vast number of "teachable skills" are isolated, and well-meaning publishers produce sophisticated but unnecessary materials;…

Reports a series of experiments on the difficulty of reading and following instructions and describes activities used to help children who were poor readers learn to read instructions for specific purposes. (GT)

Tips for helping children develop skills in reading directories, timetables, maps, signs, newspapers, credit forms, and consumer information. (SJL)

Provides a rationale for developing document literacy--the ability to read and use the many printed forms of information encountered on a regular basis, such as applications, forms, and instructions. Offers practical suggestions for using such documents in middle school classrooms. (EV)

Discusses adult literacy and the need for appropriate instruction to prepare workers for job-related reading. (MG)

Three mentally retarded adult residents of a group home were trained to read survival words in four conditions (in the group home with one trainer; in the group home with two to three trainers; one trainer in the group home and the natural environment; and two to three trainers in the group home and the natural environment). Training was…

Discusses prereading activities for home economics education: motivational activities, preview activities, vocabulary activities, and prequestioning activities. Teaching methods, steps, and examples are suggested for each activity. (CT)

Emphasizes that reading is a whole person process based on understanding the message rather than on isolated skills. (MKM)

There exists a controversy as to whether or not minimal competency testing in the area is a sound educational practice. A review of reading research in three areas, developmental reading, functional reading and recreational reading was conducted to provide data relevant to the controversy. (RD)

Presents a fictitious dialogue in which a teacher of a college methods course in reading points out to her students that (1) people read for different purposes, (2) reading needs vary from community to community, and (3) teachers should investigate the reading needs of people in their communities. (GT)