ACCESS! Teaching Writing Skills to Students With Intellectual Disability

Ms. English has been teaching at Smith Middle School for 15 years in a self-contained classroom for students with moderate intellectual disability. When she first started teaching, her instruction was focused on a life skills curriculum. Her instructional priorities included teaching skills such as taking care of oneself, the completion of vocational tasks, and effective communication. In recent years, the federal focus on access to the general curriculum has helped her recognize the importance of adding academic skills to her instructional priorities. She began incorporating more reading and math instruction and is now interested in helping her students improve in their written expression skills.