a case study of literacy acquisition in an adult with developmental disabilities yai/national...

A CASE STUDY OF LITERACY ACQUISITION IN AN ADULT WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIESYAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities Annual International ConferenceNew York, NYMay 2005

Monica Gordon Pershey, Ed.D., CCC-SLPAssociate Professor, Department of Speech and HearingCleveland State UniversityCleveland, [email protected], [email protected]

Thomas W. Gilbert, M.A., M.Ed. Clinician, QMRP, Northeast Care CenterNorth Royalton, [email protected]

Gordon Pershey & Gilbert (2005) NRC 2

Case History – Christine

Born: 1956 to uneducated Greek immigrantsEducation: No formal schooling, family teaches

self-careMedical: Congenital heart defect, developmentally

disabled, functional good healthCognitive: IQ is 41 or 43Language: Preschool range of functioning;

communicates in English, also uses limited American Sign Language and Greek

Speech: Dysarthria, apraxia, moderate intelligibility in known contexts

Residence: Family homeOccupation: County sheltered workshop – light

assembly; helps in family’s mini-mart


Baseline Literacy Attributes – Pre-Treatment

Slosson Reading Test: Christine read “is” “up”; Wrote “Christine” and the letters of the alphabet to dictation

Christine is interested in print – she is aware of print as communication

Christine is interested in the functions of print in multiple social environments (family, work, peer groups, community)

Christine has expectations that literacy will engender social contact (correspondence, reading about the social world)

Christine prepares correspondence (messages, greeting cards) by asking family to tell her the letters she needs to write to spell the words she wants to put on paper

Christine asks a habilitation supervisor if she could be taught to read and write – Tom is assigned to intervene


Discovering the Literacy Process: Hypothesizing How to Intervene with Adults with Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities

Hypothesizing functional capabilities needed for literacy:Interactions beyond parallel play: Need joint purpose

between learner and clinician, the synergy of a working relationshipVisual skills to see print: Acuity, tracking, processing and memoryLanguage skills: Sentence repetition, engage in conversation, discourse skills (memory, topicality,

story line); ability to determine parts of wholes (e.g., the door of the car, subcategories such as foods that are eaten for lunch in winter)Patience and persistence – Plan for years of instruction, not weeks or months



Similarities with Emergent Literacy:Moving Whole to Part to Whole:

Whole: Logographic recognition - Highly reliant on context

Part: Alphabetic recognition - See initial letters in words

Whole: Orthographic reading – Deliberately or automatically scan letters, syllables,

word parts, and whole words with flexibility

and code awareness

Reading is always a parallel examination of stimulus and memory (Smith, 1988)



Relevant Literature:Erickson, Koppenhaver, & Yoder, 1994; Kliewer & Landis, 1999 – Skills mastery delays access to authentic literacy materials; Advocate contextually-relevant instruction

Katims, 2000; van Kraayenoord, 1994 - Access experiential background and metacognitive skills, such as ability to predict text events and to self-regulate to choose among learning strategies

Ashby-Davis, 1981; Gillette, 1991- Echo reading; Impress methods


How to Intervene: Demonstration, Guided Practice, Independent Practice

Demonstration: Models of purposeful reading of extended text tofacilitate four roles (Freebody, 1992)1 - Text Participant: “This text matters to me!” (Funny, personal, useful)

2 - Text User: “This text was created so that I can _____.”

3 - Text Analyst: “This text reminds me of something I already know!”

4 - Code Breaker: “I can find some elements of the written code.” (Logos, whole words, letters, symbols)



Guided Practice:Auditory Impress Reading:Tom reads word by word, line by line, Christine echoes

Emphasis on flow, sharing, cooperation A melody of voices

Procedural Input – “This is what readers do”Auditory Input - Builds “Big Storage” of lengthier text Iconic Input – “This is what print does” – Connect visual

wholes to spoken languageDiscourse Input – “Talking like a book,” Phrasing of

sentences and passages; Sharing meaning allows for emphasis on code to be introduced later



Guided Practice:Working with Whole WordsUnderstanding words as parts of the whole text – read for flow and also read word by wordUse controlled readers, HIGHLY predictable text (Laubach), simple story line reinforces making meaning from textVisual recognition: Are words seen as logos?Tom and Christine talk about words in text, locate

individual wordsChristine builds a bank of reliable sight words



Moving Towards Independence:Clinician’s voice drops out momentarily: Is Christine

reading any of these words? Christine reads and Tom echoesRead in unison, not echoingListen for Christine’s vocal inflections as she leadsChristine signs words occasionally as she reads, reinforcing her comprehensionChristine selects texts she wants to read – e.g., newsletters for special populations, trip announcements, flyers at work, greeting cardsMaintain interdependence – Not pushing towards independence – Avoid breeding frustration



Moving Towards Independence:Echo reading is supplemented with planned and incidental instruction:Build a sight word bankWord skills worksheets – matching, selecting among

choices to show word recognitionExplore letter-sound correspondencesAnalogies for onsets – if “bed” begins with /b/, get ready to say a /b/ word when you see “b” – think of a /b/ word that would make sense hereAnalogies for rimes – what word could this be if we see it ends in “--oon”



Moving Towards Independence:Christine finds satisfaction in communicating through written languageEager to create her own texts – Language Experience Approach (Stauffer, 1970) – Christine dictates text for Tom to scribe (“Bessie’s Store”)Christine writes many notes, letters, and greeting cards - Christine asks family members to tell her the letters so she can spell the words she wants to write Continual experimentation with writing leads to independent creation of letters, messages, notes, and greetings using invented spelling


Improvements in Christine’s Quality of Life

Increased social participation: Library usage – borrowing books, story hourAttends weekend school for adults with developmental disabilitiesRecognizing coins and bills, counting moneyBetter time telling skillsMotivation to try to speak more clearly – more aware of target sounds and how they compare to her productionsPersonal reading: Prayers, letters, greeting cardsSelf-confidence: Volleyball, soccer, summer camp, group trips, dinner and movie dates


Documented Accomplishments

Christine and Tom have partner read several books, including abridged versions of The Wizard of Oz and The Secret Garden

Christine demonstrates text comprehension by providing single-word, sign, and gestural responses to questions about characters, plot, setting, etc.

Christine routinely writes notes to family, friends, workshop supervisors, and Tom

Full Scale IQ was tested as 55 after five years of reading and writing interventions, an increase of 14 points from pretreatment.


Conclusions

Christine’s literacy capabilities flourished under socially stimulating conditions. Non-threatening, socially relevant interactions with Tom facilitated her development.

Literacy was communicatively relevant to Christine. She viewed literacy as enhancing her ability to communicate with others.

Cognitively, Christine exhibited self-direction in her learning and metacognition as she approached literacy tasks.

Thus, Christine experienced many of the social, intellectual, and behavioral conditions reported in the literature to be contributing factors in literacy acquisition in adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities (Barudin & Hourcade, 1990; Katims, 2000; Kliewer & Landis, 1999 van Kraayenoord, 1994).


Implications

This case study has generated evidence that literacy instruction for adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities can utilize an eclectic, whole to part to whole approach.

There is a need for further research into literacy acquisition in adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities to explore how literacy acquisition is both a linguistically mediated social process and a socially mediated linguistic process.


Tom’s Discovery of the Literacy Process

Client’s Interest in Print

Client’s Interest in his/her Multiple Social Environments

Desire to Grow Socially, Behaviorally

Desire for Contact: Literacy Serves a Need for Communication; Expectation of Subsequent Social Participation

With Insight Comes Joy: Changes in Their Self-Concept, Rights, Power


Functional Prerequisites

Beyond Parallel Play: Need Joint Purpose and Synergy Between Teacher and Learner

Visual Acuity to See Print

Language Skills: Repeat SentencesEngage in Conversation and Discourse

(Memory, Topicality, Story Line)

Parts of Wholes (The Door of the Car; Foods that are Common at Lunch)

Patience and Persistence on the Part of the Teacher and Learner: Plan for Years of Instruction, Not Weeks


The Developmental Reading Process: What Do Typically Developing Readers Do?Moving Whole to Part to Whole

Logographic Recognition(This is Probably Sight Word Reading)

COKE PEPSI MASTER CARD VISA

Highly Reliant on Context

Alphabetic Recognition: See Initial Letters of Words then Surmise what the Word Might Be

Orthographic Reading: Deliberately or Automatically Scan the Letters, Syllables, and Word Parts throughout an Entire Word (hotel)


Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Txes M&AUinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr theltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihngis taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghitpclae. The rset can be a total mses and youcan sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs isbcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed erveylteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.


red bluegreen browntan yellowpurple orangepink blackbrown redyellow purpleblue greentan orange


The Developmental Reading Process: What Do Typically Developing Readers Do?

Pattern Detection Prepares the Reader for Rule Application

The Heuristic Precedes the Logorhythm

Experimentation with Writing Occurs Concurrently with these Phases

A Spelling Conscience Develops in the Orthographic Phase

Reading is Always a Parallel Examination of Stimulus and Memory

Ideally Occurs with Automaticity


How to do the Teaching

DEMONSTRATION

GUIDED PRACTICE

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE



Facilitate Four Roles (Freebody, 1992)Text Participant

This Text Matters to Me! (Interesting, Funny, Personal, Useful)

Text UserThis Text Was Created So that I Could _____ (Read a Story, Receive an Invitation, Take Medicine)

Text Analyst This Text Reminds Me of Other Texts (Frequent User)

Code Breaker I Can Find Certain Aspects of the Written Code

(Punctuation, Letters, Words)



Step 1: Language Listening and Use

Auditory Input Builds “Big Storage” for Lengthier Text

Iconic Input: This is What Print Does

Procedural Input: This is What Readers Do



Step 2: Connect Visual Wholes to Spoken Language

Logographic Phase: Seeing Word Wholes

Understanding Word Wholes as Part of the Language Whole

For Some Clients this Constitutes Whole Word Recognition

For Other Clients, this is Matching “Some Language” to “Some Logos”



Step 3: Talking Like a Book

A Melody of Voices: Repetition, Impress

Predictable Phrasing at the Sentence and Passage Levels

Facility with Meaning Allows for Later Emphasis on the Code

The Teacher is Very Involved: The Process is about Communication with the Learner, Teacher Models Patience and Concentration, Sharing the Meaning of Text

The Teacher’s Voice Drops Out: “Are They Reading Anything Yet?”



Step 4: Reliable Sight Words: Maintain Focus on Instruction “Interdependence” - Don’t Push for

Independence

Learned by Repetition and Connection to Meaning

Might be Function or Content Words

Laubach or Other Repetitive Texts Featuring Story Lines

A Word Keeps Coming Up in the Story and is Reliably Recognized

The Learner Still Struggles with the Bulk of Text

Independence May Tax a Learner’s Frustration Tolerance



Step 5: Pattern Detection -- Begin to Teach Letter Recognition for Letters that Occur at Beginnings of Words

Pair Letters to Sounds Analogy: If “Bed” Begins with the /b/ Sound,

When You See a “b” Get Ready to Say a Word that Begins with /b/ -- Then Think of a /b/ Word that Would Make Sense Here

Stress How Sounds Recur in Different Words - Start a Personal Dictionary of Sight Words by First Letter/Initial Sound

Move to Word Families or Spelling Correspondences-oon: moon, balloon, noon, soon, afternoon

-ch: lunch, such, batch, pinch



Step 6: Finding One’s Own Mistakes

Can the Learner Monitor for Miscues? Self-Correct?

Monitoring What We See, What We Say, What We Hear Ourselves Say, What the Text Means, How Meaning Changes as We Go Along

Miscues Reveal Three Types of Errors:Reading the Wrong Symbol (A Visual Error)Attaching the Wrong Meaning

(Wrong Guess of What the Word is in Context)Errors Involving Sentence Structure

(Not Accounted for by Dialect)



Step 7: Word Awareness and Word Study

Finding Similarities and Differences Among Words: Rhymes, Singular/Plural, Compound, Different by 1 Letter

Taking Words Apart in Any Way

Sounding Out Words


FAQ’s

When, and how often, do I correct the learner?

Keep corrections to substantial concerns related to text meaning

About 80% accuracy is sufficient

Ignore dialect errors

Take the learner’s temperament into account Does the learner want to be corrected or not? What will help vs. what will aggravate the

learner?


FAQ’s

Is this Whole Language?

No. But the “wisdom” of whole language has been taken into account: Readers crack the code by going from whole to part to whole. Connected text is more meaningful than flash cards. Letters are only important to people who have seen the flow of words on a page and want to crack that code. Learning to read entails a series of insights.


FAQ’s

What about Phonics Instruction?

Phonics teaches the rules of English orthography. Learners are ready for phonics when they have good pattern detection skills and can apply consistent rules.

Shouldn’t I teach survival words first?

A learner who is capable of reliable identification of sight words may benefit from supplemental instruction in survival words presented in isolation. Survival words might also be detected in text passages. Logographic readers may recognize some survival words that have strong visual associations, such as a stop sign.


FAQ’s

What can I do about learners with autism?

A literacy learner needs to have some interest in his/her social environments and a desire to grow socially. This teaching approach requires a high degree of interpersonal contact, in part provided to nurture the learner’s desire for contact. Learners with autism who see literacy as an avenue to communication may engage in this approach. Literacy is important to clients who have the expectation of subsequent increased social participation when they become readers.


FAQ’s

What can I do with my lowest functioning clients?

Begin by reading aloud to them, directing visual attention to the print as you read.


References

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