Sign it, say it, read it: the effectiveness of American sign language as a supplement to reading instruction for children with Down syndrome

Abstract

Abstract"Sign it, Say it, Read it" was a 16 session study designed to isolate and examine the effect of using sign language within a comprehensive reading program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A group of 19 students were divided between a treatment and a control group. The treatment group received a comprehensive reading intervention augmented with explicit sign language instruction. The control group received the same comprehensive reading program, but without the sign instruction. Initial and final assessments were conducted of the entire group using a mix of standardized tests and informal inventories. For 16 sessions, a teacher at the Down Syndrome Research Foundation delivered a reading program specific to this population of students. In conjunction, two school reinforcement sessions occurred each week for the duration of the study. The pre and postperformance measure scores were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance, (ANOVA) and t-tests for within subjects and between groups. Significant results were found for within subject ANOVA tests. Large effect sizes were found for the treatment group when comparing between group paired t-tests. The findings suggest that this intervention is effective for students with ID/DD. It also appears that sign language augmentation favourably affects language and literacy outcomes. Follow up investigation using a larger sample size for a longer period of time is recommended.