“Knowledge is Power”: Reading, Writing, and Promoting Self-Determination among Adolescents with Multiple Disabilities

Emergent readers and writers with multiple disabilities, who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), require many opportunities throughout the day to engage in literacy. The quality of these literacy opportunities is important; to ensure that reading and writing are consistently motivating and students generalize skills, literacy should always serve an authentic communicative purpose. As students enter adolescence and prepare to exit high school, high-priority literacy skills should be targeted and literacy activities must be age-appropriate. This article provides an overview of emergent literacy for early communicators with multiple disabilities and explores ways that educational teams can identify authentic literacy activities for adolescents with multiple disabilities in a variety of inclusive environments.