At any time during the day, a spontaneous opportunity may arise to do literacy work with an adult with intellectual / developmental disabilities. For example, when walking down the street, the tutor can point out the spelling of a street sign. Otherwise, the learner may ask for assistance with a specific literacy task, such as reading a letter, and teaching can be connected to this.
These "Literacy Moments" can serve as an important reinforcement of more formal literacy instruction with which the learner may be engaged. Or, these opportunities may currently be the only literacy instruction the person is benefiting from. Either way, they can be positive learning experiences.
Disability service providers are engaged in literacy moments all the time, sometimes without even realizing it!
"Residential service providers would be able to supplement the work of the tutor. This wouldn't necessarily happen in a formalized manner but the service provider could give cues and reinforcers during the week.
For instance, if a lesson plan has been about social signs, like ENTRANCE/EXIT, the care provider could intermittently follow up in a natural way, whether during grocery shopping, at a movie or any typical activity."
Lori
Riedmueller
Service Coordinator, Pulford Community Living Services (Winnipeg, MB) April
20, 1993