A publication of the Technology and Media Division of the Council for Exceptional Children
JSET Articles Index
Volume 23 Number 3
Expanding Literacy for Learners with Intellectual Disabilities: The Role of Supported eText
Karen H. Douglas, Kevin M. Ayres, John Langone
University of Georgia
Virginia Bell
Clarke County Public Schools
Cara Meade
Georgia College and State University
A series of single-subject experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of presentational, translational, illustrative, instructional, and summarizing supports on the reading and listening comprehension of students with moderate intellectual disabilities. The specific eText supports under investigation included digitized voice and text-to-speech, text highlighting, video summaries, text-linked photographs, and graphic organizers. Two eText supports were found to be effective in supporting text comprehension for this population: reading the text out loud (using either recorded voice or text-to-speech), and graphic organizers. The findings also revealed the importance of providing explicit instruction in how to use eText supports. The article summarizes six studies and discusses the implications of the results for students with moderate intellectual disabilities, their teachers, and their parents.
