Picking Up the Pace: Effective Approaches to Accelerate Fluency and Comprehension in Students with Disabilities

This presentation explores instructional practices that helped “pick up the pace” of literacy growth for students with complex needs who received the Friends on the Block literacy intervention as part of a large-scale randomized control trial (RCT). We highlight case stories of specific students in our study. Participants will be able to: 1. Consider the challenges of teaching students with complex needs (including those with IDD, autism, and learning disabilities) how to read and how to do so effectively and efficiently. 2. Understand how intensive, customized instruction can support high literacy expectations for students with complex needs. 3. Develop practical knowledge of how to “pick up the pace” of literacy instruction for their students with complex needs in their classrooms tomorrow!