Association for Behavior Analysis International

Functional reading and mathematical skills may improve the quality of life and general well-being for individuals with disabilities. However, research in the area of reading and mathematics for learners with disabilities at the postsecondary level is sparse and unable to guide practice. This symposium includes 3 experimental studies that investigate the effects of academic interventions on oral reading fluency, vocabulary knowledge, and functional mathematical skills of young adults with intellectual and learning disabilities. The results of the 3 studies indicate that young adults with disabilities may benefit from interventions that incorporate components of evidence-based effective instruction (e.g., teacher modeling, frequent opportunities to practice, immediate feedback). The presentations will address the implication and future direction of academic interventions for young adults with disabilities.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of teaching vocabulary using direct instruction on word knowledge and expository reading comprehension of young adults with intellectual and severe learning disabilities. Four learners from a postsecondary education program for individuals with disabilities participated in the study. During the intervention, the instructors taught the unknown terminologies embedded in expository texts using a direct instruction teaching sequence. In the context of an alternating treatment design, we found that the direct instruction of vocabulary knowledge resulted in higher acquisition and retention of the words than the no intervention condition. However, the effects of the vocabulary instruction on comprehension of the expository texts were less clear.

This study assessed the effectiveness of a 3-step cognitive strategy (TIP) for calculating tip and total bill for young adults with intellectual disabilities. In the context of pre- and post-test nonequivalent-groups design, 10 students from a postsecondary education program for individuals with disabilities participated in the study. A teacher delivered 6 lessons to students in the experimental group using the working instructional model for teaching learning strategies. The results indicate that the experimental group outperformed the comparison group on items that assessed the ability to calculate tip and total bill. Students from the experimental group also generalized the procedural knowledge to tasks that required using percent values in different contexts. Four of the students from the experimental group maintained the use of the strategy 8 weeks after the intervention.

The combined repeated reading and question generation procedure is a reading intervention designed to target both fluency and comprehension for students with disabilities. Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of the intervention for school age children with learning disabilities. This study extended the research by utilizing the program with 3 postsecondary learners with severe learning disability and mild mental retardation. In the context of a multiple baseline across participants design, the results indicate that the program may be an effective intervention to improve fluency and comprehension for young adults with cognitive disabilities.