Accessible Literacy Framework

How does one provide reading instruction to students with developmental or intellectual disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy or Down syndrome? This course is grounded in the premise that reading is at the center of most activities—in and out of school. The essential components of reading instruction—phonological awareness, sound blending, initial phoneme segmentation, letter-sound correspondence, decoding and shared reading—will be covered and framed to address emerging literacy needs of students with complex communication needs. This course is designed specifically for educators and school staff who are responsible for providing and/or adapting materials for students with disabilities who have complex communication needs, use assistive technology to access the curriculum, or require adaptive materials to participate in a learning environment. Course participants will learn specific strategies designed to augment existing curricula or to serve independently as a literacy tool to reach this academically underserved and challenging student population. This course is a 45-hour train-the-trainer course that offers two hours of graduate credit through Trinity Washington University. Additionally, this course may be accessed virtually with a live trainer or virtually through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning.