Children with postural dysfunction experience difficulties keeping their bodies upright. Without appropriate trunk support, these children are not able to effortlessly control their head and trunk even for a short duration and could impact learning engagement. The purpose of this feasibility study was to examine if optimal trunk support enhances…

The Equals Formal Curriculum English Scheme of Work has been designed for that very small percentage of the school population, perhaps as low as one or two per cent, who have global learning difficulties (GLD) to such a degree that they are consistently working at levels significantly below their age-related peers for all of their academic lives.…

Earlier research shows an arrest in reading and writing development among 9-12-year-old students with severe speech and physical impairment, SSPI. This article explores what five students with SSPI who have reached beyond beginner's phase without arrest in their literacy development have experienced as significant for their reading and writing…

Previous findings demonstrate peer support arrangements improve academic and social outcomes for secondary students with severe disabilities, but further research is needed to determine (a) the degree to which this practice would benefit younger students, (b) the impact on student independence, and (c) how teachers can best support paraeducator…

Difficulties in monitoring reading comprehension result in poor comprehension. One key aspect of monitoring is metacomprehension, which refers to one's awareness of one's own reading comprehension. Previous studies have observed difficulties in metacomprehension among the deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) population. This study aims to determine…

Students with significant disabilities often attend general education (mainstream) classrooms, yet they are not receiving adequate support to experience full school participation. This qualitative case study was conducted to explore how key intrinsic (i.e. personal skills and abilities) and extrinsic (i.e. environmental) factors influence the…

Engagement is important for learning. Because of their atypical expression, measuring engagement for students with multiple and severe disabilities (MSD) is challenging. Group activities often enhance engagement of children and gross motor activities include an expanded variety of behaviors by which engagement may be measured. The purpose of this…

The purpose of this research was to examine the pedagogical practices that encourage students with severe disabilities' participation in an elementary physical education program through the lens of ableism. Focus group interviews were conducted with elementary students and semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight educators in the…

Special education teachers are often encouraged to use praise in their instructional interactions with their students with significant support needs (SSN). It is assumed that reinforcing behavior facilitates learning and academic achievement for these students. Despite a myriad of interventions aimed at increasing special education teachers' use…

Teachers' instructional language is often described as key in facilitating the learning of children with disabilities. This article explored two teachers' instructional language as used in interactions with children with mild and severe language difficulties in one-on-one instructional sessions. The results showed that teachers used more…

Science content remains a commonly overlooked academic content area for students with severe disabilities, including ASD and ID, despite recent research. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of systematic instruction, such as prompting and fading techniques, implemented during whole-group science instruction for students with both…

Check in-check out (CICO) is a widely used and studied behavioural intervention. Although CICO is an effective way to support pupils' behaviour in a school context, not all pupils benefit from basic CICO. A single-case experimental study was designed to evaluate the effects of CICO Plus support (CICO Plus) for participants whose behaviour was…

The aim of this research was to study how children's play behaviour was related to their cognitive skills and vocabulary development in integrated early childhood special education (ECSE) groups. The longitudinal study is part of the LASSO research project, which concerns children's stress regulation, learning and quality of early childhood…

Students with disabilities who display severe reading difficulties may require intensive interventions in order to make progress. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of a multicomponent reading intervention implemented at two different intensities, in two separate randomized control trials, for a subset of fourth-grade students who…

This qualitative descriptive study explored how self-contained special education (SPED) teachers described the use and implementation of evidence-based practices (EBP) in relation to the academic growth of students with severe disabilities. The problem statement was it is not known how self-contained SPED teachers describe the use and…