An investigation on emergent literacy skills of preschool children with disabilities

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between home literacy activities provided by parents and their children\u27s emergent literacy skills. A total of 11 parents and their preschool children with disabilities participated in the study. A survey was provided to obtain parents\u27 strategies used during parent-child joint reading activities in the home. The Emergent Literacy Skills Assessment was administered to participating children to evaluate their emergent literacy skills in six areas including identifying primary shapes and colors, letter identification, reciting the alphabet, identifying the parts of a book and identifying their own name in print. The surveyed parents reported they often read to their child, identify signs and logos, sing songs and nursery rhymes and point to and read the words aloud but are less likely to encourage their children to write words, recall story details and point to words while reading. Results suggest that watching Sesame Street, reciting the alphabet, pointing to the words while reading aloud and singing nursery rhymes positively affect a child\u27s emergent literacy skills. Their influence on preschoolers\u27 emergent literacy skills indicates that parents need training or learning strategies for home literacy activities to enhance their children\u27s emergent literacy skills