Literacy Challenges
  • Delay in language acquisition and comprehension
  • Challenges with phoneme and syllable segmentation, sound deletion and rhyming
  • Produce less complex noun and verb phrases
  • Difficulty with sentence structure and punctuation
Possible Reasons for Literacy Challenges
  • Impaired phonological memory skills
  • Speech intelligibility may be affected by apraxia of speech, dysarthia and voice quality

Match, Select, Name
What Is it?

Match, Select, Name is a word recognition strategy. Children learn to recognize printed words through a gradual sequence of steps. First, the child learns to match the words. Then, they learn to select a word when asked for them by spoken name. Lastly, the child learns to read words upon request.
Match, Select, Name. Retrieved July 18, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDmwZjqfNN4
The Purpose & Benefits
As the child's sight vocabulary grows, so does their understanding of the complete task and they become increasingly able to learn to read new words without the need to break the task into the three steps. Deliberately breaking the early reading task helps the child understand each step in the task.

This strategy encourages children to practice identifying and reading words, and eventually working towards automaticity in reading text.
How to Use It
Create flashcards of a few words the child is familiar with (start with 3 to 5 words at a time).
You will need two flashcards with the same word written on it.
Match: child matches words together
        You say "this says mom, can you find the flashcard that says mom?"
        Child matches their card to your card

Select: child selects words on request
        You say" find the card that says mom"
        Child selects the appropriate card

Name: child names the words
        You point to a word
        Child says the word

References

Buckley, S.J., & Bird, G. (1993). Teaching Children with Down Syndrome to Read. Down Syndrome Research and Practice, 1 (1), 34-39.

Copeland, S.R., & Keefe, E.B. (2007). Effective Literacy Instruction for Students with Moderate or Severe Disabilities. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.

Down's Syndrome Association. (2011). Reading. Middlesex, United Kingdom.