Parent Implementation of an Oral Reading Intervention: A Case Study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Reading is an extremely important skill that children must learn; however, many children struggle to become competent readers. One response to a slow learning rate is to increase opportunities for responding. In this case study, a child's parent was recruited to provide additional opportunities for reading practice. A brief oral reading assessment was conducted to determine which of the reading interventions would be optimal for increasing parent adherence and the child's reading fluency. The parent was trained to implement a sight word flash card drill to address word knowledge out of context, to implement an overcorrection procedure for errors while reading in context, and to utilize rewards for reading. Results show that the parent reliably implemented the intervention as prescribed. In addition, the child's sight word knowledge reliably increased throughout the intervention. Finally, the child's reading fluency showed marked improvement with a combined overcorrection and reward procedure. The results of this case study demonstrate that a parent can be taught to implement reliably a reading program to provide additional reading practice with good treatment integrity. Follow-up data and additional implications are discussed.