Effective Literacy Instruction for Learners with Complex Support Needs

What are today's best methods for teaching literacy skills to students with complex support needs—including autism, intellectual disability, and multiple disabilities? This comprehensive guidebook has up-to-date, evidence-based answers for pre- and in-service educators.

Developed by Copeland and Keefe, the experts behind the landmark book Effective Literacy Instruction for Students with Moderate or Severe Disabilities, this thoroughly reimagined follow-up reflects 10 years of groundbreaking research and advances in the field. You'll discover current recommended practices on critical topics, including how to build vocabulary, increase word recognition, enhance fluency, address cultural and linguistic diversity, and use academic standards when designing instruction. You'll also get the guidance you need to put theory into practice: powerful lesson planning strategies, practical examples, and case studies that bring key principles of instruction to life.

Whether used as a text for teachers in training or a guide for practicing educators, this book will help teachers of Grades K–12 increase access to literacy and prepare all learners for successful communication, employment, and community life.

WHAT’S NEW

• New section on literacy as a human right for all learners (the “why” of instruction)
• Chapters on how to design engaging learning environments
• Cutting-edge guidance on today's assistive technology and augmentative and alternative communication
• A dedicated chapter on how to use national and state standards in designing instruction
• Recommendations for adapting books and other materials to increase all learners' access
• Chapters on combining literacy and the arts to enhance student engagement
• More on literacy beyond high school, including community-based learning opportunities

SELECTED TOPICS COVERED: language and communication * phonics instruction * vocabulary * fluency * writing instruction * universal design for learning * instruction for English language learners * standards-based IEPs * differentiated instruction * low- and high-tech text adaptations * music and drama in literacy learning * literacy in postsecondary education * literacy in employment settings

Susan R. Copeland, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at the University of New Mexico. She teaches courses in both the undergraduate dual license program and the graduate program in special education. Prior to receiving her doctorate from Vanderbilt she worked with individuals with disabilities in several capacities, including as a classroom special education teacher and as a coordinator for a community program serving children and adults. Dr. Copeland's research and teaching focus developing instructional and social supports for students with disabilities within inclusive environments and advocacy and empowerment of individuals with severe disabilities.

Dr. Keefe received her bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the United Kingdom, her master's degree in anthropology at the University of Nebraska, and her master of arts and doctoral degrees in special education from the University of New Mexico. She has taught in inclusive settings at the elementary level and now is actively involved in various educational reform issues throughout New Mexico. Her research interests include inclusive practices, co-teaching, and systematic change at the school level. Dr. Keefe enjoys tennis, playing banjo with ther band, going to Jamaica, and reading.

Ruth Luckasson, J.D., is Regent's Professor and Professor of Special Education and Coordinator of Mental Retardation and Severe Disabilities in the College of Education at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Professor Luckasson is Vice President of the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR). She served on former President Clinton's Committee on Mental Retardation, serves on the Litigation and Human Rights Committee of The Arc of the United States, and is the chair of the American Association on Mental Retardation's Committee on Terminology and Classification. Professor Luckasson formerly served as Chair of the American Bar Association Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law. She has published widely in the areas of legal rights of people with disabilities, people with mental retardation as defendants and victims in the criminal justice system, the definition of mental retardation, and children in special education.

Christina R. Carnahan, Ed.D., is Associate Professor of Special Education and Director of Advancement and Transition Services at the University of Cincinnati. Her research interests include literacy instruction for individuals with autism and other significant support needs across the lifespan. Dr. Carnahan has published in journals such as Expectational Children, Focus on Autism and Developmental Disabilities, and Journal of Special Education.

Diane Ryndak, Ph.D., received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is the author or coauthor of numerous articles, chapters, and books and coeditor of two compendia of TASH articles most frequently used by institutions of higher education. Several of her articles have been republished in the compendia and in international journals, and one of her books has been republished in Japan. Dr. Ryndak served as a Fulbright Research Scholar in Poland, where she returns frequently to work with colleagues at The Maria Grzegorzewska Academy for Special Education in Warsaw and across Poland. She has represented the U.S. Department of State with efforts related to the inclusion of citizens with disabilities in all aspects of life in the Ukraine; conducted over 30 international presentations; andguest lectured in Turkey, Peru, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Her body of work focuses on inclusive education and access to the general curriculum for students with extensive support needs, student outcomes achieved by inclusive services, preservice teacher preparation, and technical assistance for sustainable school reform efforts related to inclusive education. Dr. Ryndak has served multiple terms as a member of and Secretary for the TASH National Board of Directors and as the chair of the TASH Publications Committee, National Agenda Committee on Inclusive Education, Conference Committee, International Issues Committee, and Personnel Preparation Committee. She has served as Associate Editor for Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities (RPSD) and as a member of the editorial or review board for seven peer-reviewed professional journals, including RPSD, American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research, and Teacher Education and Special Education.