Comprehensive conventional literacy instruction addresses each of the elements that is required for a student to learn to read with comprehension and write to convey their thinking. Conventional literacy should be the goal for all students, including those with extensive support needs. It is certainly the focus of the Virginia Literacy Act and similar legislation across the country. Unfortunately, very few students with extensive support needs develop meaningful conventional literacy skills, and many of the assessment and intervention approaches highlighted in state-level literacy legislation are not accessible to them. Without conventional literacy skills that they can apply and use across contexts, students with extensive support needs struggle to establish autonomy, control their interdependence on others, and communicate what they want, when they want, with whomever they want.

This afternoon session will address comprehensive, conventional literacy instruction for students with extensive support needs. It will begin with a discussion of common models of reading and the ways they do and do not apply to students with extensive support needs. It will then focus on specific instructional strategies and uses of assistive technology that can help students with extensive support needs learn critical skills including phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, and fluency, as well as language comprehension and production. This afternoon session will build upon the morning session, but participation in the morning session is not required.