Japanese students with developmental disabilities often exhibit difficulties in reading, particularly in Kanji (ideogram) reading, and in acquiring the equivalence relations between pictures, written words, and sounds. Previous research suggested that one student with autism could acquire Kanji reading along with equivalence relations through…

Five children with autism were taught to match printed words to corresponding pictures. Participants' speed of learning was compared across three training conditions, each involving a 5-s delay of reinforcement, using a within-participants alternating treatments design. In the cue-value condition, a verbal phrase of approval (e.g., "good!") was…

Numerous instructional techniques have been used to teach sight word reading skills to individuals with developmental disabilities. The results of research incorporating paired associate instruction, in which familiar pictures are paired with unknown print stimuli, suggest that pictures ''block'' (i.e., interfere with) learners' ability to…