Literacy Intervention For A Deaf Child With Severe Reading Disorder

The case study of a Norwegian deaf boy with severe reading disorder is described. In spite of average and above-average performance on standardized tests, adequate motivation, and the fact that the reading instruction was adapted to the signing environment of the deaf students, on entering the 5th grade at II years of age, the boy was functionally illiterate. A holistic approach to writing instruction was initiated, based on process-oriented writing, Norwegian sign language, drawings, and word processing augmented with a word prediction system called PAL. This approach managed to get writing within his zone of proximal development, that is, it mane it possible to provide him with writing assignments that he could learn to complete. With appropriate help and guidance from the teachers, the student himself actively acquired reading and writing skills, which he now uses independently for schoolwork and self-initiated writing activities, as well for as reading newspapers and closed-captioned television programs.