Le abilità comunicative nei bambini piccoli e in età prescolare sono fortemente determinanti nelle future competenze e successo scolastici, sociali e lavorativi come hanno dimostrato diverse ricerca fra cui Kaiser, Hancock, Cai, Foster e Hester, 2000; Kaiser, Cai, Hancock e Foster, 2002; Warren & Yoder, 1996. I bambini in età prescolare con disabilità hanno spesso deficit significativi nelle loro capacità comunicative, incluse difficoltà nelle abilità del vocabolario ricettivo ed espressivo e deficit complessivi di comunicazione e linguaggio orale (Shevell et al., 2003). Queste disabilità possono condurre a deficit persistenti nelle capacità di lettura, scrittura e alfabetizzazione con evidenti limitazioni sulla loro vita futura.

I ricercatori hanno scoperto che supportare con una comunicazione precoce e interventi linguistici i bambini con disabilità può essere efficace, in particolare quando questi interventi si verificano all’inizio della vita, hanno una forte base empirica e si svolgono in contesti naturali e inclusivi (Hemmeter & Kaiser, 1994; Odom & Wolery, 2003; Warren & Yoder, 1996).

Poiché le capacità di comunicazione in generale e l’impegno con la lingua parlata e scritta in particolare sono fondamentali per i bambini con disabilità, è importante fornire agli insegnanti e ai genitori strumenti che siano efficaci e che si presentino naturalmente nella routine quotidiana (Carlson, Bitterman e Jenkins, 2012; Koppenhaver, Hendrix, & Williams, 2007; Marvin, 1994; Warren & Yoder, 1996).

È stato riscontrato che gli strumenti incentrati sulla lettura condivisa di libri hanno un effetto positivo sulle abilità comunicative e linguistiche nei bambini con sviluppo regolare ma anche in bambini con disabilità (Mol, Bus e de Jong, 2009; WWC, 2015).

Negli anni recenti sono state effettuate diverse ricerche che hanno messo a confronto metodi di lettura tradizionale (l’adulto legge ai bambini che ascoltano passivamente) con il metodo di Lettura Dialogica in gruppi di bambini con disabilità. Da queste ricerche è emerso un netto miglioramento nell’uso del vocabolario, nella capacità di interazione e nella partecipazione verbale dei gruppi che hanno utilizzato la Lettura Dialogica. Ad esempio Jacqueline A. Towson, Peggy A. Gallagher e Gary E. Bingham nella loro ricerca del 2016 sugli effetti della Lettura Dialogica in bambini con disabilità hanno dimostrato che i bambini che hanno utilizzato la Lettura Dialogica hanno ottenuto punteggi significativamente più alti nella formazione di un vocabolario e nella capacità di comprensione e comunicazione espressiva. Ciò si è verificato sia per le parole che erano specificamente mirate durante la lettura dialogica, sia per le parole del vocabolario aggiuntive contenute nel libro per bambini scelto.

La Lettura Dialogica, in questo contesto, è considerata uno degli strumenti più importanti appunto perché stimola ed attiva contemporaneamente diverse facoltà nel bambino, dall’utilizzo delle competenze verbali e di scrittura, alla costruzione linguistica, all’interazione con altri, la comprensione e il ragionamento, fino al comportamento.

Qui di seguito forniamo una lista non esaustiva di alcuni studi recenti, che citano l’utilizzo della Lettura Dialogica con bambini con disabilità.

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