The usefulness of paced auditory presentation combined with simultaneous visual presentation of lesson material was examined as a technique of improving reading skills in the educable mentally handicapped. A 30-day instructional period involved four groups of students (IQ's 58 to 86, ages 12-11 to 17-11). The groups were as follow: a machine audio group (MAud) exposed to rate controlled taped material by audio means alone; a machine audiovisual group (MAV) that received visual copy and also listened to the taped recordings; a teacher audiovisual group (TAV) using bimodal stimulation; and a control group (C). Materials were recorded and presented at appropriate rates of presentation by means of a tempo regulator, a machine which varies rate without pitch distortion. Results indicated little impact of the experimental procedures on the standardized pre-post test measures; however, daily comprehension measures favored the bimodal presentation modes, particularly the MAV group. Some trend favoring slowed presentations was evident. The subjects demonstrated significant retention of instructional material after a 1-month interval, and significantly higher performance on a relearning measure than on initial presentations, after a 2-month interval. (Author/JD)