Effectiveness of an Early Reading Intervention for Young Children With Intellectual Disabilities Who Use or Need Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Launched by OSTFOLD UNIVERSITY COLLEGE · Aug 4, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying how well two different reading and language programs help young children with intellectual disabilities who use special communication tools instead of speaking. The study wants to find out if starting these programs early, in kindergarten, improves skills like recognizing sounds, building vocabulary, and clear speech better than usual teaching. It also looks at whether a follow-up program in first grade helps children learn to read words more easily. Researchers want to see if children who get both programs do better than those who get only one or none, and how early language skills affect later reading progress.

Children who might join are between 4 and 8 years old, have an intellectual disability, and use augmentative and alternative communication (like communication devices or sign language) because they cannot speak well. They must be in special education kindergarten and able to respond using their fingers, eye pointing, or signs. During the study, kids will either receive the new reading programs or continue with their usual teaching, with assessments done at different times to measure progress in language and reading skills. This trial is currently looking for participants and aims to better support children’s learning by finding the best timing and combination of these teaching methods.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • children diagnosed with intellectual disability, confirmed by multidisciplinary assessments carried out by the Child rehabilitations service or currently undergoing such an evaluation
• • ages 4-8 (the last year in kindergarten)
• • lack of functional speech and must use augmentative and alternative communication as the primary form of communication
• • have a (designated) special education kindergarten teacher
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • having a severe visual or hearing impairment
• • children who can decode syllables or words
• • children with severe physical disabilities prevent the children from being able to answer with their fingers, unless they can respond with eye pointing or signs