Use of assisted reading to increase correct reading rates and decrease error rates of students with learning disabilities.

Three elementary students with learning disabilities read aloud from their basal reader.

An adult read each sentence first. The student read the same line right after.

This is called assisted reading. The study used a multiple-baseline design across kids.

Correct words per minute jumped up right away. Errors dropped at the same time.

The gains stayed when the helper voice was removed. All three kids showed the same pattern.

Cameron et al. (1996) also worked on reading in 1996. They taught nonreaders with a match-to-sample game. M et al. used echo reading for kids who already knew some words. Both studies show ABA can boost reading, just with different tools.

García-Villamisar et al. (2017) later used behavioral skills training to teach comprehension to an autistic student. Their prompting and fading logic mirrors the assisted-reading scaffold. The 2017 study moves the idea from fluency to understanding.

Goo et al. (2020) swapped the human voice for an iPad. Their students with intellectual disability learned phoneme skills through tech prompts. Together these papers show the same scaffold idea works for different skills and diagnoses.

You can add assisted reading to any reading block tomorrow. Sit next to the student, read a line, then let them echo. Track correct words per minute for five minutes. The study shows you will see quick gains with nothing fancier than your voice and a timer.