Pictorial Illustration for Enhancing Reading Skills of Learners with Intellectual Disability

This study determined the efficacy of using pictorial illustration remedial strategy to enhance the reading skills of learners with intellectual disability. First, an intensive short-term pictorial illustration instruction was designed to target reading comprehension and vocabulary skills at the second grade level. The instructional guide was then implemented in classrooms at two special schools for pupils with intellectual disability in Ibadan. The pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design was used. Analysis of pretest-posttest data revealed that reading skills of pupils with intellectual disability significantly improved from pre to post on all three subtests: word decoding (p = .04), word recognition (p = .01), reading comprehension (p = .01), and test total (p = .01). Analysis of Covariance results showed that reading skills among pupils with intellectual disability was significantly affected by the treatment (F = 38.756; ?2 = .951). The mean that the (1; 2)
mean score of participants exposed to pictorial illustration was higher (48.93) than that of the control group (21.22). There were no significant main effect of verbal ability as well as the interaction effect of treatment and verbal ability on the reading skills of participants. Therefore, teachers of learners with intellectual disability should adopt pictorial illustration for their improved reading skills.

Keywords: Reading skills, pictorial illustration, intellectual disability, verbal skills