Literacy Research

• Dr. Janice Light and Dr. David McNaughton,

Pennsylvania State University

• AAC-RERC - http://www.aac-rerc.com

• R1-A: Literacy Support Technologies for AAC Users

• Multiple baseline across participants investigating the

effects of adapted instruction on the literacy skills of
individuals who use AAC
– 9 participants (3 to 54 years old)

Lori Geist, MS, CCC-SLP • Case examples posted on the AAC-RERC website to
Manager, Educational Content and Symbols
illustrate intervention and outcomes

ASHA Convention 2008 2

Literacy Research Recommendations Literacy Research Recommendations

• Read interesting texts to the student • Provide direct, explicit instruction in basic
• Build language skills skills
• Phonological awareness skills • Model the skill for the student
• Prompt the student
• Letter-sound correspondences
• Provide guided practice, helping the student do the
• Early reading skills skill
• Decoding skills • Check the student’s performance
• Shared reading • Provide opportunities for independent practice

• Early writing skills • Provide feedback

(Light, J., McNaughton, D., 2006; National Reading Panel, 2000) (Light, J., McNaughton, D., 2006)
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Literacy Research Recommendations ALL Intervention

• Feedback • Format for instructional materials:

• If student performs skill correctly
• Instructor provides positive feedback
• Paper-based version
• If student is incorrect • Software version
• Instructor directs student’s attention to error
• Models the correct response
• Provides guided practice for student to ensure
success
• Provides additional opportunities for
independent practice

(Light, J., McNaughton, D., 2007)

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ALL Intervention (cont) ALL Intervention (cont)

• Paper-based Version • Targeted skills:

• Set of 7 binders • Phonological awareness skill of sound
• Instructors manual blending
• Sound Blending • Phonological awareness skill of phoneme
• Phoneme Segmentation segmentation
• Letter-Sound Correspondence
• Decoding 3-Letter Words • Letter-sound correspondences
• Decoding 4-Letter Words
• Sight Words
• Single word decoding
• Shared Reading • Application of decoding in shared reading
• Teacher takes select binders for each • Recognition of sight words
instructional session. • Reading simple texts
• Manually records student progress
(Light, J., McNaughton, D., 2006)
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ALL Intervention (cont) Sound blending

• Introduce the task • Goal:
• The student will listen to the
• Model the task for the student phonemes /d o g/ with each
phoneme extended 1-2
• Provide guided practice seconds, blend them to
• Complete the task with the student determine the word (dog), and
then point to the picture dog.
• Provide independent practice • Task:
• If correct, confirm and provide encouragement • Present four pictures to the
• If incorrect, implement correction procedures student and label them
• dog, jog, doll, dig
• Model the correct answer
• Say the phonemes /d o g/ orally
• Prompt the student
with each phoneme extended
• Re-check
1-2 seconds.
• Instructional techniques are consistent across all • The student blends the
phonemes and points to the
skills. picture for dog.
(Light, J., McNaughton, D., 2006) (Light, J., McNaughton, D., 2006)
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Sample Data Collection - Sound Blending Phoneme Segmentation

• Goal:
• The student will match the
phoneme /b/ to the picture that
starts with /b/

• Task:
• Present four pictures to the
student and label them
• bus, wet, lip, and cat
• Say the target phoneme /b/ and
show the letter b.
• The student points to the picture
that starts with /b/
• bus

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(Light, J., McNaughton, D., 2006)
 Letter-sound correspondences Letter-sound correspondences
• Goal:
• The student will match the target
phoneme presented orally to the
correct letter.

• Task:
• Present 4 letters to the learner; Do not
say the letter names or sounds.
• Say the target phoneme /b/
• The student points to the letter that
goes with the target phoneme

Plates to support introducing letter-sound correspondences

(Light, J., McNaughton, D., 2006)

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Letter-sound correspondences Single word decoding

• Teach lower case letters first • Goal
• The student will decode the written
• Teach letters that are used most frequently word pop and point to the picture
first of pop

• a m t s i f d r o g l h u c b n k v e w j p y (Carnine • Task
et al., 1997) • Present 4 pictures and label them
• pot, mop, pop, pup
• Teach letters that are dissimilar first • Present the written word pop
• Teach short vowels before long vowels • The student must read the word
and point to the picture of pop
• Teach blends once most single letter-sound
correspondences are mastered

(Light, J., McNaughton, D., 2006) (Light, J., McNaughton, D., 2006)
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Decoding in shared reading Shared reading sample books

story

• Goal
• The student will use his decoding
skills to read written words during
shared reading.

• Task
• Highlight the target word in the
book.
• Read the sentence out loud
Jackie Saves
tracking with finger communication board
the Game
• Pause at the target word.
• The (pause) …
• Student must read the word and
point to the pictures of dog and
lap.

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(Light, J., McNaughton, D., 2006)
Accessible Literacy Learning (ALL) Research-based practice
• What are the skills a learner needs to start • Students who require AAC can acquire literacy skills
using ALL? when provided with effective instruction to teach
• Understand basic questions and instructions • Phonological awareness skills
• Understand conversation about events outside the immediate • Letter sound correspondences
environment
• Decoding skills
• Recognize pictures / line drawings
• Communicate using signs, line drawings, or other graphic • Shared reading activities
symbols • Writing skills
• Demonstrate an interest in text (books, letters, and/ or the
keyboard), but are not yet able to read simple books or other • The ALL curriculum provides detailed guidance and
texts materials for planning and implementing research-
• Have a reliable means to indicate a response (e.g., direct based literacy instruction for phonological awareness
selection with a finger or fist, selection with a head /chin pointer
or light pointer, eye pointing, scanning, listener-assisted skills, letter sound correspondences, decoding skills
scanning). and shared reading opportunities.
(Light, J., McNaughton, D., 2006)
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Additional Resources
• Light, J., McNaughton, D. (2006). Maximizing
the Literacy Skills of Individuals Who Require
AAC, The AAC-RERC Webcast Series.
• http://aacliteracy.psu.edu/Home.html
• www.aac-rerc.org
• www.mayer-johnson.com
• www.dynavoxtech.com
• lori@mayer-johnson.com
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