Computer-based spelling instruction for students with developmental disabilities

Learning to spell on the computer may lead to functionally useful writing skills. Alan and Suzy, teenagers with developmental disabilities, were already proficient on a variety of naming and matching tasks but had difficulties spelling; Suzy also made errors reading orally. In Experiment 1, computer teaching led to new anagram and written spelling performances. Suzy's reading also improved. On tabletop tasks, Alan and Suzy sorted and retrieved objects to a list they wrote and read aloud. When the tabletop tasks were repeated weeks later, Alan's spelling accuracy declined but Suzy's was nearly perfect. In Experiment 2, using a different and refined teaching format, Alan relearned his old words and Suzy learned to spell new words. Immediately afterwards, and weeks later, both Alan and Suzy performed nearly perfectly on the tabletop matching, sorting, and reading tasks. The results replicate previous research and extend it with a refined package of computer methods that establishes durable and potentially functional writing skills. The possibility that learning to spell also improves oral reading is worthy of further research.