Episode 111 (Dr Katrina Kelso)

Poor comprehenders have difficulty with reading comprehension despite adequate word reading accuracy and fluency. Weaknesses have been identified with lower-level vocabulary and grammar skills, and higher-level language skills such as inference making. It is important that speech-language pathologists (SLPs) tailor intervention to meet the specific needs of individuals; however, there is a lack of research on intervention for poor comprehenders, who comprise a heterogenous group. This case study aimed to explore whether a pilot 8-week novel vocabulary intervention was (a) effective in improving word knowledge, and (b) if gains generalised to reading comprehension. Following intervention, significant improvements were found on the semantic subtasks and in word knowledge for treated words on the Word Knowledge Profile measure; improvement was also seen for untreated words at six-month follow-up. There were also gains on the standardised word and reading comprehension measures, providing promising preliminary evidence for the usefulness of the intervention.