Many libraries offer reading programs for people of all ages with special needs, including summer reading programs for children, who often suffer from regression or a loss of reading skills. Summer reading programs can help children retain their reading skills, while building on those skills. The summer reading programs often make adjustments for each individual child, including those with special needs. The children are encouraged to read a few books over the summer at their level in any subject they enjoy. Children who are not reading during the summer can fall two years behind their classmates, which can be even more devastating for a child with special needs.
Most multisensory reading and writing programs are modeled after the Orton-Gillingham Method developed in 1935. Other programs include Starting Over, Wilson Reading System, Project Read, Slingerland Approach and Alphabetic Phonics. Multisensory programs employ hearing, seeing and feeling during the lesson as every person, especially a special-needs person, learns and retains those lessons differently. For example, have the special-needs person make letters out of dough or draw a special picture with each letter to stimulate more than one of his senses. Multisensory programs can aid in teaching a special-needs person how to read, write, spell, write in cursive and utilize dictionary skills.
Most public schools offer special-needs classes that help children with special needs learn to read and write. For example, the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children developed the Dyslexia Training Program, which is primarily used for children in second through fifth grades. The two-year program offers in-class instruction through videos for schools that don't have trained dyslexia therapists. The program helps dyslexic children learn to read and spell through a series of lessons that emphasize phonemic awareness and alphabetic code knowledge.
Special-needs teens and adults can participate in literacy programs, such as The Barton System program. That program was designed for volunteer tutors in adult literacy programs based on the Orton-Gillingham Method. Many schools, libraries and organizations offer reading programs designed for adults with special needs or language barriers. Some offer private tutors, while others offer only classroom settings.