GSDD5019 Literacy - Developmental Disability

This unit is designed to provide students with an overview of best practices in literacy assessment and instruction, and how these practices can be applied to individuals with developmental disability, particularly those with complex communication needs. The unit will focus on the development of emergent and conventional literacy skills and will illustrate the critical role that literacy has to play in assisting individuals with developmental disability to overcome barriers to successful communication, education, and participation. In addition, the unit will emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and foster enthusiasm for life-long learning in the ever-changing field of literacy and disability studies.

Students who successfully complete this unit will:

• Be familiar with theoretical models of literacy.
• Be knowledgeable about the factors that need to be considered when conducting a comprehensive literacy assessment and understand how to apply this knowledge to individuals with developmental disability.
• Be knowledgeable about best practices in literacy instruction and understand how to implement these practices with individuals with developmental disability.
• Be familiar with balanced literacy instruction.
• Be familiar with a range of technologies, and a variety of materials and classroom modifications, that support literacy learning and use by individuals with developmental disability.
• Be knowledgeable about the collaborative team process.
• Be aware of some of the major research/clinical questions that have been addressed and that still need to be addressed in the field of literacy and disability studies.
• Be aware of local and national resources for accessing parent and professional support and for continuing self-education in literacy learning for individuals with developmental disability.

Sally Clendon began her clinical career working as a speech-language pathologist in New Zealand schools, providing direct intervention and working collaboratively with parents, teachers, and support staff. During this time, Sally developed a strong interest in improving access to the curriculum and to literacy learning for children with severe disabilities. In 2006, Sally obtained her Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Sciences at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Dr. Karen Erickson in the Centre for Literacy and Disability Studies. Her current research focuses on analysing the language used by children without disabilities when they write about self-selected topics. The information gained from the research will assist speech-language pathologists and teachers to plan more effective vocabulary sets and language representation systems for children with complex communication needs who use AAC. Sally is also involved in a large international study examining the receptive and expressive communication abilities of children who use AAC. In addition, Sally continues to collaborate with her colleagues in the Centre for Literacy and Disability Studies. She is part of a research team that is developing a web-based literacy assessment tool for children with significant disabilities.