Functional reading for students with developmental disabilities who are linguistically diverse

Students with moderate and severe disabilities often have language deficits that make the acquisition of reading challenging. Sight word instruction of daily living skills is one method of intervention that benefits students with severe disabilities who have not achieved literacy. When students with developmental disabilities are also linguistically diverse, acquisition of reading skills becomes more complex. Sight words must be chosen that are relevant to the students own community. A critical decision in planning sight word instruction is whether to provide instruction in the student's primary language or in English. These issues are discussed and an illustration is given of the heterogeneity among students with developmental disabilities who are linguistically diverse.