A Land We Can Share: Teaching Literacy for Students with Autism

Teachers are going to love this book! Passionate and practical, it moves beyond "sight words" and other functional literacy skills and provides the know-how for bringing quality, meaningful literacy instruction to students with autism. Authored by respected, dynamic scholars in autism and literacy, the book breaks new ground as it focuses specifically on ways in which educators can improve literacy outcomes for students with autism spectrum disorders in Grades K–12 classrooms.

Teachers will learn:

• research-based practices in reading and writing instruction, including those consistent with the recommendations of Reading First



• ideas for planning lessons, differentiating instruction, and designing a classroom environment that promotes literacy learning while addressing the individual needs of learners with autism
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• techniques for assessing students who do not or cannot show their literacy learning in traditional ways due to communication or learning differences



• strategies for including students with autism in a wide range of classroom literacy activities



• teaching tips from the words and experiences of people with autism spectrum labels and from the authors' own extensive classroom experience

This guidebook brings cutting-edge literacy concepts to special educators who are already familiar with autism but may not have specific training in teaching reading skills and is an essential "literacy meets autism" primer for general educators and reading specialists. For all readers, the book underscores the ways in which literacy can help every learner achieve a more fulfilling, rich, and inclusive academic life."

Paula Kluth, Ph.D., (she/her) is a consultant, author, advocate, and independent scholar who works with teachers and families to provide inclusive opportunities for students with disabilities and to create more responsive and engaging schooling experiences for all learners. She is a former K–12 special educator who has served as a classroom teacher, co-teacher, and inclusion facilitator. Paula has also been a university professor and taught courses on both inclusion and disability studies. Most recently, Paula’s work has centered on helping teachers and administrators educate all students in their schools and classrooms. She also frequently works with families and advocacy groups to support goals related to inclusion. In addition to inclusive education and autism, her professional interests include universal design for learning, co-teaching, and educating students with complex support needs.

Paula is the author or coauthor of 15 other titles including Universal Design Daily, 30 Days to the Co-Taught Classroom (with Dr. Julie Causton), Don’t We Already Do Inclusion?: 100 Ideas for Improving Inclusive Schools, and Just Give Him the Whale: 20 Ways to Use Fascinations, Areas of Expertise, and Strengths to Support Students with Autism (with Dr. Patrick Schwarz). She is also the author of a few books for children, including Coaster, a story of a puppy with wonderful wheels.

You can find out more about Paula’s work by visiting her web site, www.inclusionrules.com, or by connecting with her on social media (@paulakluth).

Check out our spotlight on Paula Kluth! Discover downloadable tip sheets and watch a video Q&A.

Kelly Chandler-Olcott, Ed.D., is an associate professor in Syracuse University’s Reading and Language Arts Center, where she directs the English Education program. Aformer secondary English and social studies teacher, she now teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in content literacy, English methods, literacy and technology, and writing for professional publication. She was awarded a Meredith Recognition Award for excellence in university teaching in 2000.

Dr. Chandler-Olcott’s research interests include adolescents’ technologymediated literacy practices, classroom-based inquiry by teachers, content literacy, and inclusive approaches to literacy instruction. With funding from the National Science Foundation, she and several colleagues recently completed data collection for a multiyear study of the literacy demands that reform-based mathematics curricula present for students in urban secondary classrooms. Her newest research project is a literacy intervention situated in an inclusive humanities class in an urban middle school.

Dr. Chandler-Olcott’s work has been published by such journals as English Education, Journal of Teacher Education, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, and Reading Research Quarterly. She has also co-authored four books, the most recent being Spelling Inquiry: How One Elementary School Caught the Mnenomic Plague (Stenhouse, 1999), with the Mapleton Teacher-Research Group; and Tutoring Adolescent Literacy Learners: A Guide for Volunteers (Guilford, 2005), with Kathleen Hinchman.