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Reading
Reading Instruction for Students with Disabilities
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Research
Highlights
Research Related to Classroom Materials
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Motivation
is an essential element of reading comprehension, therefore,
techniques that help students see relevance and the reasons
for tasks are essential.
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Text
adaptation methods such as modifying and supplementing texts
are effective in the comprehension and recall of specific information
within passages, but are not effective in the comprehension
of unfamiliar text. These techniques tend to be time-intensive
for teachers due to the verbal recording and rewriting of texts.
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Curriculum
and classroom materials that have been modified have a greater
impact upon student reading comprehension of specific texts
than materials that have not been adapted. Modified material
should more closely reflect the learning style of each student
and be organized to meet his or her learning needs.
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Graphic
aids, such as charts, tables, and spatial organizers are
more effective in enhancing student reading comprehension and
recall than non-graphic aids (study guides, supporting text-based
resources). However, non-graphic aids are more realistic for
teachers to apply in the classroom because they do not involve
artwork or highlighting complicated interrelationships among
ideas.
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Students
who use non-graphic, advanced organizers combined with direct
instruction strategies have better reading outcomes than those
students who use traditional study guides because the advanced
organizers help the student understand the learning objectives
prior to the lesson.
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Illustrations
that accompany text in a document, such as colorful pictures
aside passages, can often prevent students with learning disabilities
from effectively comprehending unfamiliar texts because they
distract the reader from the written word.
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The
use of memory retrieval strategies such as mnemonic
devices improves recall of key vocabulary, factual information,
and content comprehension in students with mild disabilities.
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