History

Learning to read is very important for children with special needs, including children with intellectual disabilities. Reading difficulties are experienced by children with intellectual disabilities, mostly due to disturbances in both visual and auditory perception. In addition, the child has a barrier to memory that is associated with a low ability to remember. The multisensory method is a teaching technique that involves various sensory stimulations such as vision, hearing, movement, and improvement that can be used to improve the ability of children to read lightly. The study aims to describe the efforts of teachers in improving the reading ability of children with mild intellectual disabilities in the second grade in the SLB YPDP Bandung through the use of multisensory methods. This research uses a qualitative approach with descriptive methods. Data collection techniques use observations, interviews, and documentation. The total number of subjects in this study is 4 (one teacher of 2nd grade and 3 students with mild intellectual disabilities in 2nd grade). Data analysis techniques are carried out through three stages: (1) Data Reduction, (2) Data Display, and (3) Conclusion and Verification. The results of this study showed that children have difficulties learning early reading because of several factors: (1) children are easy to forget; (2) children are easily affected by the environment; (3) children are prone to boredom; and (4) they are less motivated to learn. The implementation of learning using the multisensory methods carried out by the teacher includes: (1) learning is done in a special room so that the child is not affected by the situation of his environment; (2) the teacher repeats the learning material to know the vocal letters and consonant letters on the child through the sand medium so that learning is more enjoyable, attracts the child's attention, and the child feels like playing while learning; (3) in the learning process, the child is directed to mention or spell (auditory), show the letter on the image (visual), and write the letter in the sand medium. (tactile). The results of such learning are: (1) the child becomes enthusiastic about learning early reading; (2) the child is more focused in the implementation of learning; (3) the atmosphere in the classroom becomes more conducive because the kid is more concentrated; (4) the child’s ability is increased, one of which is being able to distinguish letters; (5) the teacher is more active and creative in providing the learning material for early reading.