Connecting Literacy Outcomes with Leisure Communication Skills in Inclusive Settings

This session will discuss how alternate achievement literacy can support both academic and functional learning goals. We will review a study which aims to connect grade aligned academic outcomes with functional communication outcomes for high school students with severe disabilities. The intervention package for teaching comprehension to students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (ID) will be described in depth, including a discussion of read aloud procedures, a system of least-to-most intrusive prompts, the use of iPad-based AAC support, and a discussion of using high-interest informational texts to support communication. This session will focus on the generalization of comprehension learning by examining the effect of comprehension-based communication supports on the participant’s turn-taking in leisure conversations with those participant’s general education high school peers in naturally-occurring inclusive settings. Participant Objectives: Participants will be able to select and adapt age/grade-appropriate high-interest informational texts for high school students with severe disabilities. Participants will be able to describe ways to adapt materials for general curriculum learning toward supporting communication goals for students with severe disabilities. Participants will be able to identify ways in which comprehension-based communication supports can be used in inclusive settings with typical peers