Promoting Employee Handbook Comprehension for Postsecondary Students with Intellectual Disability and Autism Spectrum Disorders

The ability to read is an essential part of an independent life in our society. Individuals with Intellectual Disability (ID) and Autism Spectrums Disorders (ASD) often struggle with learning to read; therefore, discovering strategies to build literacy skills is essential to their success in employment and independence. A multiple probe across participants design was used to investigate the effects of an adapted employee handbook paired with systematic prompting on text comprehension with postsecondary students with mild to moderate ID and ASD. This investigation involved three young adults with ID and ASD attending a postsecondary education program. The results demonstrated a significant increase in the ability of all three students to answer comprehension questions based on an adapted employee handbook compared to baseline, which did not include the systematic prompting or graphic organizer. After intervention, all three participants were able to maintain improved comprehension levels in the maintenance phase. The findings suggest this to be an effective practice for improving literacy skills and access to important functional texts such as employee handbooks for young adults with ID. The results of this study could be generalized to a number of disability service providers. Practical application and future research are also discussed.