The quality of a person's life, their success in school, and their options after they exit school for employment, recreation, and independence are impacted by the person's ability to read; therefore, it is of paramount importance that all students receive reading instruction from a teacher who feels prepared to teach reading. Access to equitable reading instruction for students with intellectual disabilities has been diminished by their special education teachers' limited preparedness for teaching reading. The likelihood of a special education teacher implementing evidence-based practices when teaching students with intellectual disabilities depends on whether the special education teacher feels prepared and skilled enough to be successful. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine special education teachers' perceptions of their knowledge and practices in providing reading instruction to students with intellectual disabilities while participating in a professional development program: Reading Instruction for Students with Intellectual Disabilities. Qualitative research design was used to answer the question: What are special education teachers' perceptions of their knowledge and practices for teaching reading as they participate in a professional development program about reading for teachers of students with intellectual disabilities? Findings resulted from an analysis of interviews before the series of professional development sessions, final interviews after the fifth session, questionnaires, and a researcher's journal. Participants provided feedback in the questionnaire at the end of each session. Their feedback was used to plan the content for each subsequent session. Participants attributed the perceived changes in their knowledge to collaboration, the content of the sessions, and the instructional materials provided to them. They experienced changes in their instructional practices associated with learning about presumed competency, multi-component instruction, and grade-level appropriate materials. Their perceived barriers to multi-component reading instruction were time limitations, the lack of a multi-component curriculum, and the lack of collaborative opportunities. These findings add to the limited body of literature on special education teachers' perspectives on their knowledge and skills for teaching reading to students with intellectual disabilities. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]