Explicit strategies instruction has been implemented using information taken from commercial programs such as the Visualization Verbalization Program by Nanci Bell (1991) and the Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program for Reading, Spelling, and Speech by Patricia and Phyllis Lindamood (1998). In doing this, it was found that the programs were incongruent with the curriculum the students were learning within the classroom setting, which limited carry-over of skills from the therapy session into the academic environment. Another barrier to commercial programs was the number of hours needed to properly instruct the students so they could effectively learn and apply the skills. Since many students received a limited number of minutes per week in speech and language therapy, adequate time was not provided to achieve mastery of the concepts and skills. Finally, no formal teacher training was received via in-service or conference for either program, as a result the effectiveness of the instruction, which was based on learning the program through manuals, was highly questionable. The end result was minimal generalization of skills in independent reading and listening comprehension skills from the therapy session to the classroom setting.
In addition to commercial based programs, training was received in Braidy: The Story Braid created by Mary Ellen Moreau (2002), which taught children about story grammar concepts. Although this technique was effective in developing an understanding and retelling different types of narrative and expository texts, the effectiveness of this instruction on listening and reading comprehension was never explored.
Based on my own experience, students' language skills are targeted through skills-based tasks or text related activities; however, few clinicians explicitly teach students strategies in listening and reading comprehension that facilitate independence outside the therapeutic setting. Furthermore, many teachers do not provide explicit instruction in listening and reading comprehension. The lack of explicit instruction in language, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension to students with LLD may cause them to be less independent in their abilities to listen and read. This indicated that there was a need for speech and language pathologists to conduct research in these areas.