welcome and intro
Welcome to Dave's Literacy and Disability Site. I'm Dave Koppenhaver, a literacy educator with more than 30 years of experience helping children and adults with a wide variety of difficulties and disabilities learn to read and write. Over the years that has included students with significant learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, Rett syndrome, and a variety of other disabilities. Ulysses S. Grant once said, "I know only two tunes: one of them is 'Yankee Doodle', and the other one isn't. " The only tune I know is literacy, reading and writing.
My goal, in establishing this site, is to provide information resources and direct literacy assistance to children and adults with disabilities, their families, their teachers and related services personnel, and any other individual or organization wishing to help with literacy learning. One of the first studies I ever conducted involved interviewing literate adults with complex communication needs and severe physical impairments. They told my colleagues and me that many different professionals, family members, and friends had helped them become literate. I hope this site helps you to become that person for someone you know (or meet someday) with disabilities. |
information resources
Skype Contact: dave.litdis
Meet Dave
I am a professor in the Department of Reading Education and Special Education at Appalachian State University. My professional goal is singular: improving literacy learning in children and adults with significant disabilities including cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorders, Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities, Rett syndrome, and other multiple disabilities. In 1990, David Yoder and I co-founded the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies (CLDS) at the University of North Carolina (UNC), and I directed its activities until 1998. I remain an affiliated faculty member of the CLDS, which means I continue to collaborate in research, teaching, and writing with Karen Erickson and her colleagues.
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Consulting
I offer a range of services including: workshops, short courses, presentations, webinars, classroom and school consulting, and online assessment and instruction.
My experience and expertise include:
My experience and expertise include:
- literacy instruction and assessment of children and adults with autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities, and children with severe and multiple disabilities;
- literacy instruction and assessment of children and adults with complex communication needs who require augmentative and alternative communication; and
- technology-supported literacy.
