Full social participation requires literacy. However, students with intellectual disability (ID) often face significant barriers to accessing effective and inclusive reading education. This study investigated literacy skill development in beginning readers diagnosed with mild, moderate, and severe ID in need of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The 123 participating Swedish students were assigned to one of four groups. Three groups received digital reading instructions implemented by the teachers of the students in everyday schoolwork. Two groups practiced a single-component reading strategy (phonics-based or comprehension-based), and one group practiced a multicomponent reading strategy (both phonics-based and comprehension-based). The fourth group received teaching-as-usual. Literacy skills were assessed on four occasions, and the developmental trajectory was compared between the groups. The results indicated that literacy skills improved over time. Furthermore, the multicomponent strategy indicated a steeper trajectory in phonological awareness compared to the other groups. Therefore, the findings suggest that varied reading instruction may support the improvement of pre-literacy skills in beginning readers with an ID diagnosis and who have a need for AAC. However, limitations in the adherence to the intervention procedure encourage future studies to further compare the effects of single- and multicomponent reading instructions. Possible implications are discussed for reading instruction for students with ID and communicative disabilities. 

A small body of research and reports from educational and clinicalpractice suggest that teaching literacy skills may facilitate the devel-opment of speech sound production in students with intellectualdisabilities (ID). However, intervention research is needed to test thepotential connection. This study aimed to investigate whether twelveweeks of systematic, digital literacy intervention enhanced speechsound production in students with ID and communication difficulties.A sample of 121 students with ID were assigned to four differentgroups: phonics-based, comprehension-based, a combination withboth phonics- and comprehension-based intervention anda comparison group with teaching-as-usual. Speech sound productionwas assessed before and after the intervention. The results on the datawithout the imputed variable suggested a significant positive effect ofsystematic, digital literacy interventions on speech sound production.However, results from sensitivity analyses with imputed missing datawas more ambiguous, with the effect only approaching significance(ps = .05–.07) for one of the interventions. Nonetheless, we tentativelysuggest that systematic, digital literacy intervention could supportspeech development in students with ID and communication difficul-ties. Future research should be done to confirm and further elucidatethe functional mechanisms of this link, so that we may have a betterunderstanding and can improve instruction and the pivotal abilities ofspeech and reading.

Reading is essential for academic success and societal participation, yet many individuals with intellectual disability struggle with reading.PurposeThis is the first study to investigate how fluid intelligence and socioeconomic status (SES) influence reading ability in beginning readers with intellectual disability, focusing on the mediating role of early literacy skills while testing the possible moderated mediation of SES.MethodUsing structural equation modelling (SEM), we analyzed data from 135 beginning readers with intellectual disability (mean age 13.7 years) attending Swedish compulsory schools for students with intellectual disability.FindingsThe results showed that the effect of fluid intelligence on reading ability is mediated via early literacy skills. Furthermore, the results show that this mediation was stronger in students with higher SES compared to those with lower SES. This study provides new results suggesting that supportive environmental contexts provided by higher SES might amplify the benefits of fluid intelligence on reading outcomes. Despite the cross-sectional nature of the data, the findings underscore the importance of early literacy skills and the broader socio-economic context in reading ability for students with intellectual disability. Educational interventions should prioritize enhancing early literacy skills and might need to consider socio-economic factors to effectively support reading development. Future research should explore additional cognitive, linguistic, and environmental factors, utilizing longitudinal designs to confirm these findings and inform tailored educational strategies.

Background It can be challenging for people with intellectual disabilities to convey their thoughts and opinions because of cognitive, speech and language impairments. Consequently, facilitating their ability to communicate using augmentative and alternative communication methods is essential. The picture-based framework Talking Mats has been applied in many studies and has been shown to be successful in facilitating communication and soliciting views from individuals with intellectual disabilities and communication difficulties. The aim of this study was to describe the views of students with intellectual disabilities and communication difficulties on speech and reading activities and to examine whether valence scores (from negative to positive) on these views were associated with performance on tests of their corresponding abilities. Methods This is a cross-sectional quantitative survey study. A group of 111 students with intellectual disabilities and communication difficulties aged 7–21 were interviewed about their speech and reading activities using the visual framework Talking Mats. Their answers were scored on a three-grade like-dislike continuum and were correlated with their results on adapted tests of the corresponding abilities. Findings The students expressed their views on speech and reading activities. The scored views on speech were positively associated with speech production, and the scored views on reading activities were positively related to reading ability. This suggests that their opinions as expressed through Talking Mats were consistent and reliable. Conclusions Most students with intellectual disabilities and communicative difficulties can reliably express their own opinions of their abilities when they are provided with a clear visual structure and pictorial support, such as Talking Mats. In this study, this was seen for students with a mild intellectual disability from age seven and onwards and for students with a more severe intellectual disability from 12 years of age and onwards.

Educational researchers have challenged Bandura’s prediction that self-efficacy beliefs tend to be established early in learning and that once set, self-efficacy beliefs persist unless a critical event causes them to be reevaluated. However, the results have been mixed in previous research, including being positive, negative, and unchanged. In response, we evaluated how 75 teachers (i.e., special educators) rate their teaching self-efficacy beliefs in motivating student reading and adapting reading instruction at two time points. All teachers taught students with an intellectual disability, communication difficulties, and poor reading skills. The teachers participated in a workshop to learn teaching reading strategies with apps under various conditions (comprehension strategies, phonemic strategies, or both comprehension and phonemic strategies). We analyzed teacher self-efficacy beliefs at two time points with a 12-week span (pre-and postintervention). First, we developed measures of teacher self-efficacy through confirmatory factor analyses. Next, we analyzed the data with multiple imputation and mixed linear regression with difference-in-differences (DiD). The results indicated no statistically significant treatment effect on teachers’ rating of their teaching self-efficacy beliefs. We conclude that our results agree with Bandura’s original prediction and thus, his social cognitive theory.

The semantic network structure is a core aspect of the mental lexicon and is, therefore, a key to understanding language development processes. This study investigated the structure of the semantic network of adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) and children with typical development (TD) using network analysis. The semantic networks of the participants (nID = 66; nTD = 49) were estimated from the semantic verbal fluency task with the pathfinder method. The groups were matched on the number of produced words. The average shortest path length (ASPL), the clustering coefficient (CC), and the network’s modularity (Q) of the two groups were compared. A significantly smaller ASPL and Q and a significantly higher CC were found for the adolescents with ID in comparison with the children with TD. Reasons for this might be differences in the language environment and differences in cognitive skills. The quality and quantity of the language input might differ for adolescents with ID due to differences in school curricula and because persons with ID tend to engage in different out-of-school activities compared to TD peers. Future studies should investigate the influence of different language environments on the language development of persons with ID

Assistive Technology for Cognition (ATC) is employed by children with and without disabilities. However, how the ATC is used in everyday life has not been studied. The current study investigated ATC-usage in everyday planning in three groups: 1) children qualifying for Swedish habilitation centers (ID/ASD), 2) children with disability not qualifying for habilitation service (ADHD), and 3) children with typical development (TD). A parental survey was conducted (n = 192) and answers were analyzed with statistical tests and inductive thematic text analysis. Results showed that all groups used ATC, most in the Habilitation group and least in the TD group. According to parents, ATC supported cognitive functions in all groups, but it became evident that the parents were responsible for planning by setting up the ATC, whilst the children merely executed the plans. This was linked to several limitations, for example the design was not appropriately adapted for these groups. The implications for the practitioners are 1) evaluate the users? cognitive abilities and choose an ATC suitable for that individual rather focusing on the diagnosis, and 2) follow up usage to see if it is the parent or the child that are using the ATC.

Children and adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) have difficulties in executive functioning and when coping with everyday planning tasks. However, the literature cannot explain whether individuals with ID perform according to their developmental level or not. The studies in this thesis investigated if life experience could be a contributing factor to the diversity seen in the literature. Planning performance can be improved by either using external or internal support. Assistive technology for cognition (ATC) is an example of external support. This thesis investigated how the ATC is being used in an everyday planning situation which has not been investigated before. Furthermore, this thesis explored whether the internal supports of cognitive abilities and life experience correlate with planning ability in adolescents with ID, and if planning ability can be trained using a cognitive training program for everyday planning. Results showed that ATC supported cognitive functions, but that the children did not formulate the plans themselves. Furthermore, the results support the difference model of ID since planning correlated with different cognitive measures and life experience in adolescents with ID compared to children with a typical development. Adolescents with ID got better at the planning tasks in the training program, however, no transfer effects to untrained planning tasks were found. To conclude, the planning was supported by external and internal support. However, ATC needs to be designed and prescribed in a way that increases independence. Practitioners should actively support in training planning and should be cautious when introducing cognitive interventions if the transfer gap is too large.  

Barn och ungdomar med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning (IF) har svårt med sina exekutiva funktioner och dagliga planeringsuppgifter. Litteraturen kan dock inte förklara om individer med IF presterar enligt deras utvecklingsnivå eller inte. Studierna i denna avhandling undersökte om livserfarenhet kan vara en bidragande faktor till varför denna skillnad ses i litteraturen. Planeringsförmågan kan förbättras genom att använda externt eller internt stöd. Hjälpteknik för kognition (HM-K) är ett exempel på externt stöd. Denna avhandling undersökte hur HM-K används i en vardaglig planeringssituation vilket inte har undersökts tidigare. Vidare undersökte denna avhandling om de interna stöden för kognitiva förmågor och livserfarenhet korrelerar med planeringsförmåga hos ungdomar med IF, och om planeringsförmåga kan förbättras med hjälp av ett kognitivt träningsprogram för vardagsplanering. Resultaten visade att HM-K stödde kognitiva funktioner, men att barnen inte formulerade planerna själva. Vidare stöder resultaten skillnadsmodellen för IF eftersom planering korrelerade med olika kognitiva mått och livserfarenhet hos ungdomar med IF jämfört med barn med en typisk utveckling. Ungdomar med IF blev bättre på planeringsuppgifterna i träningsprogrammet, men inga överföringseffekter till otränade planeringsuppgifter hittades. Avslutningsvis så stöds planeringen av externa och interna stöd. HM-K måste dock utformas och förskrivas på ett sätt som ökar självständighet. Praktiker bör aktivt stödja träning av planering och bör vara försiktiga när de inför kognitiva insatser om överföringsgapet är för stort.