The effects of simultaneous prompting presented via computer on the reading skills of mentally disability students

The purpose of the present study was to identify the effects of simultaneous prompting presented by computer assisted instruction on the reading skills of mentally disability children. The research has three main purposes: 1. Is the simultaneous prompting presented by computer assisted instruction effective in mentally disability children?s reading of 10 different words? 2. Will the maintenance of these 10 words will continue in 1, 3 and 4 week time if they can be taught through simultaneous prompting presented by computer assisted instruction? 3. Can the generalization be maintained word cards and in other places if the words can be taught simultaneous prompting presented by computer assisted instruction?8 mentally disability children participated in the study. A pilot study was done with one of the students and an additional subject attended as a substitution. The research was carried out with 6 mentally disability children. These subjects were divide into two and were subjected to the application of the effectiveness of simultaneous prompting presented by computer assisted instruction on reading skills. Total 10 words for two groups were identified to teach to the subjects. The words were taught differently in two groups. In the first group, the words were taught by means of simultaneous prompting presented by computer assisted instruction; however, in the second group, the words were replicated. A one to one instruction was carried in all teaching sessions. A multiple probe design across subjects was used. Dependent variable of the study succeeded in reading %80 of the presented words. Independent variable was subjected to simultaneous prompting presented by computer assisted instruction. Application process was carried out by the researcher. The application consists of probe, instruction, generalization and maintenance sessions.At the end of the study, it was seen that simultaneous prompting presented by computer assisted instruction is effective in the teaching of reading skills to mentally disability children. Also, according to the findings of the study, the subjects succeeded in the maintenance and generalization to at criterion level.Key words: Mentally disability student, reading skills, simultaneous prompting, computer assisted instruction.