Some children in our community use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices to communicate with others. Many parents wonder if proper reading instruction is part of their education.
Please join us as Dr. Stephanie Spadorcia helps us untangle some of these questions and more.
Stephanie Spadorcia, Ph.D. is Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Education, Associate Professor of Literacy and Special Education, and Director of the Teacher Residency Programs at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. She teaches courses in assessment, instructional methods for reading and writing, technology integration, and literacy instruction for children with disabilities. She has worked with teachers on literacy and assessment initiatives in schools in New England and across the country. To learn more about Dr. Spadorcia, go to https://www.stephaniespadorciaconsulting.com.
Dr. Stephanie Spadorcia
What we discussed:
- What are literacy and communication?
- What is the difference between AT (assistive technology) and AAC (augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)?
- What is the emergent literacy model?
- What should reading instruction include?
- Is there dedicated instructional time in your child’s day, every day, for reading, writing, listening, and communicating?
- Are there IEP goals that address all four of these areas?
- Is AAC use interwoven throughout the day in all four of these areas?
- How do you teach a nonverbal or minimally verbal child to read?
- What about assessment or measuring progress?
Essential Components of Daily Literacy Instruction:
- Word work
- Comprehension
- Writing
- Independent reading time
Dr. Spadorcia recommended 90-120 minutes of literacy instruction PER DAY in a child’s schedule that includes these 4 components. These minutes can be spread throughout the day.
Suggested Assessment Tools:
- Developmental Writing Scale
- The Developmental Writing Scale: A New Progress Monitoring Tool for Beginning Writers (Sturm 2012)
- The Power of the Developmental Writing Scale (video)
- Effective Writing Instruction for Students with Developmental Disabilities: Curriculum, Measurement, and Accommodations
- Using the Developmental Writing Scale for Writing Assessment | Jane Farrall Consulting
- What can assessment look like? (Alternative Pencils)
- Maze activity
- On Progress Monitoring, Maze Tests, and Reading Comprehension Assessment (Reading Rockets)
- Cloze activity
- Developmental Spelling Test
- Informal Reading Inventory
- Informal Reading Inventory (Qualitative Reading Inventory) (Reading Rockets)
- A Critical Analysis of Eight Informal Reading Inventories (Reading Rockets)
- Word identification assessment (Literacy Instruction for Individuals with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Other Disabilities, Penn State, Janice Light & David McNaughton)
Resources Shared by Dr. Spadorcia:
- AAC Intervention (Caroline Musselwhite)
- Alternative Pencils | Center for Literacy and Disability Studies
- Center for Literacy and Disability Studies
- Emergent Literacy model:
- Teale, W., Sulzby, E. Emergent Literacy: Writing and Reading. 1986 Norwood, NJ: Ablex
- Emergent literacy (The Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium/ERLC)
- Emergent Literacy (Emilia Ferreiro, The StateUniversity.com Education Encyclopedia)
- Literacy and Disabilities – Stephanie Spadorcia Consulting
- Mayer-Johnson PCS for Clicker : Spectronics – Inclusive Learning Technologies
- Proloquo2Go – AAC app with symbols
- What are some types of assistive devices and how are they used? | NICHD
- Rick Creech, speech therapist and AAC specialist who was born with cerebral palsy. See also Reflections from a Unicorn (Creech 1992)
