Functional Literacy Intervention for Postsecondary Students With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Pilot Study.

Prahl et al. (2023) worked with four college students who have intellectual or developmental disabilities. The team taught a functional literacy program that used real college texts like emails, syllabi, and assignment sheets.

They used a multiple-baseline design across reading skills. Each student learned to preview, question, summarize, and check understanding while reading.

All four students used the reading strategies more often and more correctly after the lessons. The gains showed up right away and stayed high.

Students said the tools helped them understand real college work, not just school worksheets.

Schertz et al. (2018) found similar gains in younger students with ID using a text-centered curriculum in elementary school. The new study moves the same idea up to college age.

Heslop et al. (2007) taught reciprocal teaching to adults with mild ID and also saw big reading gains. Alison’s work adds functional texts like course syllabi instead of story books.

Palka Bayard de Volo et al. (2021) warned that almost no studies target college students with IDD. This pilot helps fill that gap.

If you support college students with IDD, teach them to preview, question, summarize, and check real course texts. Four students is small, but the skills jumped fast and stayed. Try the same four moves in your next session: show the student a syllabus paragraph, model a quick preview, then let them practice with an email from the registrar.