Spelling Remediation: a systematic long‐term approach to teaching spelling to an aphasic boy

Abstract

TJ, a 10‐years, 7‐months‐old spelling‐disabled boy suffering from aphasia, was exposed to a spelling remediation programme introduced in the autumn term of Grade 4 and concluded in the spring term of Grade 6. A systematic strategy instructional approach was used to teach the boy 65 phonetically irregular words. The remedial spelling programme was successful in developing appropriate spelling strategies which were applied to the processing of these words and maintained at follow‐up at 2 months. Generalisation of programme effects was shown on standardised spelling tests administered during training. However, the programme did not seem to be very successful in lessening the disparity between the boy's spelling performance and average spelling performance for his grade. It was concluded that spelling‐disabled students suffering from neurological impairment probably need more cumulative training than other spelling‐disabled students. The potential role of a verbally orientated strategy approach in spelling remediation was also discussed in relation to a visually orientated approach.