ACQ Vol 11 no 2 2009

and literacy instruction. One example of this is the Personalized Key Words Strategy developed by researchers in the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies (Erickson, 2005). This strategy helps individuals with complex communication needs learn to decode words. It involves teaching a set of key words and strategies to use those key words to read and spell unfamiliar words. The strategy is derived from the first Benchmark School approach (Gaskins, Gaskins, & Gaskins, 1991, 1992), but the critical difference is that the key words chosen are personalised, rather than predetermined. The starting point for determining key words involves examining Wiley and Durrell’s (1970) list of phonograms. This list includes the 37 most common word endings in written English (e.g., -at, -ain, -ake). From this list, team members identify key words that they consider to be highly meaningful, familiar, and motivating to the individual (e.g., rat, train, cake). Once the individual can read and spell the 37 key words, they use these words with analogy-based strategies to read and spell more than 500 primary grade words. A variety of strategies can be employed to teach the key words, for example word wall and structured writing activities (see Erickson & Koppenhaver [2007] for a full description of these strategies). The Personalized Key Words Strategy approach addresses language and literacy simultaneously as the instruction focuses on teaching the meaning of the key words and modeling how to locate the words within an individual’s AAC system, as well as focusing on reading and spelling the words, and using the words to figure out unfamiliar words. Hanser and Erickson (2007) recently examined the effectiveness of an integrated word identification and communication intervention for three children aged 7–13 years. The children completed the Literacy Through Unity: Word Study program. This program was specifically designed for the Unity language system that is incorporated into the communication devices manufactured by the Prentke Romich Company (e.g., Vanguard, Vantage, and Pathfinder). The children completed 75 lessons across a 4–6 week period. All three participants demonstrated improvements in their word identification, developmental spelling, icon sequencing, and expressive communication abilities. There was also generalisation beyond the program, with increases in icon use and spelling evident outside of the lesson environment. Promoting cognitive engagement – repetition with variety Another important consideration when designing literacy instructional programs for individuals with complex communication needs is the need for meaningful and motivating learning activities that actively promote cognitive engagement. Many individuals with complex communication needs require a large amount of repetition in order to grasp new concepts. The challenge for professionals who work with these individuals is to find ways in which we can provide that repetition, while at the same time maintaining high levels of cognitive engagement, interest, and motivation. There are a number of strategies that can be employed to deal with this challenge. One strategy is to personalise the curriculum as much as possible so that individual interests and motivations are incorporated into the literacy program. Another strategy is to provide repetition with variety. One example of this is rereading the same book for multiple

purposes using the Five-Step Comprehension Lesson Framework. The Five-Step Comprehension Lesson Framework is based on the work of Tierney and Cunningham (1984). It supports individuals to employ scientifically validated comprehension strategies; before, during, and after reading. The complete framework is described in Erickson (2003) and Erickson and Koppenhaver (2007). Each lesson involves setting a purpose for reading. While individuals eventually need to learn how to set their own purposes when reading, purposes should always be set for them during instruction. If this is not done, then individuals are essentially expected to either guess what the teacher thinks is important or to remember everything, both of which can be extremely challenging (Erickson & Clendon, 2005). The idea of setting a purpose is to focus the reader’s attention, and to help the individual understand what is important. Purposes can be set whether the individual is listening to a story or reading the story. Examples of purposes include: Read this so that you can: • sequence these events (written on sentence strips). • identify five words that describe the story setting. • tell two ways this story is just like the one we read last week. • tell which of these adjectives describe the main character in the story. Setting purposes enables repetition with lots of variety. The same book can be used across a week for multiple purposes promoting depth of understanding, while at the same time maximising cognitive engagement. Summary Learning to read and write is a complicated process that is particularly challenging for individuals with complex communication needs who often have cognitive, language, sensory, and motor limitations. This article describes some of the key principles underlying effective literacy instruction for individuals with complex communication needs. These principles are: • the need for a comprehensive approach to instruction that addresses all of the constructs involved in literacy learning; • the need for direct intervention that focuses on an individual’s area of greatest need; • the need to target language and literacy goals simultaneously; and • the need to maintain high levels of cognitive engagement while offering repetition with variety. This list of principles is not exhaustive. There are other important considerations such as having high expectations, believing that all children are readers and writers, and providing access to appropriate assistive technologies. A key aim of this article is to spark interest and provoke further discussion and study about what needs to be considered when assisting individuals with complex communication needs to develop conventional reading and writing skills. References Binger, C., & Light, J. (2008). The morphology and syntax of individuals who use AAC: Research review and implications for effective practice. Augmentative and Alternative Communication , 24 , 123–138.

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ACQ Volume 11, Number 2 2009

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