Reading and Writing in Severe Intellectual Disability: a Systematic Review

Purpose of Review: Analyzing the capacity of students with severe intellectual disabilities to develop reading and writing skills is a major challenge. This group is highly heterogeneous in basic skills and prerequisites, and sometimes struggle with basic capacities in attention. However, compelling and real evidence shows that individuals with severe intellectual disabilities can engage in adapted and modified shared reading activities. This literature review reports on studies on literacy assessment and instruction for individuals with severe intellectual disabilities. The first aim of this review is to highlight factors that can facilitate literacy learning within severe intellectual disabilities. The second aim is to analyze previous literacy interventions and training, with a main focus on assistive technologies. Recent Findings: For this review, we included 24 empirical studies published between 2012 and 2022 that met our four criteria. The included studies were analyzed to determine if the current research in this field supports a comprehensive approach to the development of literacy skills for individuals with severe intellectual disabilities. These studies were systematically analyzed focusing on settings, assessment, methods of interventions, and the use of technological aids in which learning occurred. Summary: The findings indicate that current literacy instruction is not comprehensive; and the literacy instruction provided in the studies does not address recommendations from the field for individuals with severe intellectual disabilities. However, there is a growing interest in exploring innovative approaches to literacy instruction for this population, and the most powerful emerging area of research involves the use of assistive technology to support literacy learning in individuals with severe intellectual disabilities.