Effective Literacy Instruction for Learners With Complex Support Needs

Effective Literacy Instruction for Learners with Complex Support Needs is a comprehensive resource for helping teachers provide quality literacy instruction to students with severe disabilities. Rich with examples, case studies, and lesson planning techniques that allow educators to reach all learners no matter their level of need, this book provides readers with the most up-to-date information and practical examples of literacy instruction. The authors set up the book's foundation by discussing access to quality literacy instruction as a human right for all people, followed by a section on evidence-based instruction that addresses developing language and communication skills, building vocabulary, teaching word recognition, enhancing reading fluency, teaching writing and other means of symbolic expression, and organizing a framework for planning. The book will conclude with a section on methods of creating access to literacy both within and beyond the school setting.

Susan R. Copeland, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at the University of New Mexico. She teaches courses in both the undergraduate dual license program and the graduate program in special education. Prior to receiving her doctorate from Vanderbilt she worked with individuals with disabilities in several capacities, including as a classroom special education teacher and as a coordinator for a community program serving children and adults. Dr. Copeland's research and teaching focus developing instructional and social supports for students with disabilities within inclusive environments and advocacy and empowerment of individuals with severe disabilities.

Dr. Keefe received her bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the United Kingdom, her master's degree in anthropology at the University of Nebraska, and her master of arts and doctoral degrees in special education from the University of New Mexico. She has taught in inclusive settings at the elementary level and now is actively involved in various educational reform issues throughout New Mexico. Her research interests include inclusive practices, co-teaching, and systematic change at the school level. Dr. Keefe enjoys tennis, playing banjo with ther band, going to Jamaica, and reading.

Ruth Luckasson, J.D., is Regent's Professor and Professor of Special Education and Coordinator of Mental Retardation and Severe Disabilities in the College of Education at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Professor Luckasson is Vice President of the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR). She served on former President Clinton's Committee on Mental Retardation, serves on the Litigation and Human Rights Committee of The Arc of the United States, and is the chair of the American Association on Mental Retardation's Committee on Terminology and Classification. Professor Luckasson formerly served as Chair of the American Bar Association Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law. She has published widely in the areas of legal rights of people with disabilities, people with mental retardation as defendants and victims in the criminal justice system, the definition of mental retardation, and children in special education.

Diane Ryndak, Ph.D., received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is the author or coauthor of numerous articles, chapters, and books and coeditor of two compendia of TASH articles most frequently used by institutions of higher education. Several of her articles have been republished in the compendia and in international journals, and one of her books has been republished in Japan. Dr. Ryndak served as a Fulbright Research Scholar in Poland, where she returns frequently to work with colleagues at The Maria Grzegorzewska Academy for Special Education in Warsaw and across Poland. She has represented the U.S. Department of State with efforts related to the inclusion of citizens with disabilities in all aspects of life in the Ukraine; conducted over 30 international presentations; andguest lectured in Turkey, Peru, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Her body of work focuses on inclusive education and access to the general curriculum for students with extensive support needs, student outcomes achieved by inclusive services, preservice teacher preparation, and technical assistance for sustainable school reform efforts related to inclusive education. Dr. Ryndak has served multiple terms as a member of and Secretary for the TASH National Board of Directors and as the chair of the TASH Publications Committee, National Agenda Committee on Inclusive Education, Conference Committee, International Issues Committee, and Personnel Preparation Committee. She has served as Associate Editor for Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities (RPSD) and as a member of the editorial or review board for seven peer-reviewed professional journals, including RPSD, American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research, and Teacher Education and Special Education.