The Effectiveness of Interventions for Developmental Dyslexia: Rhythmic Reading Training Compared With Hemisphere-Specific Stimulation and Action Video Games

Developmental dyslexia is a very common learning disorder causing an impairment in reading ability. Although the core deficit underlying dyslexia is still under debate, significant agreement is reached in the literature that dyslexia is related to a specific deficit in the phonological representation of speech sounds. Many studies also reported an association between reading skills and music. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at enhancing basic auditory skills of children with DD may impact reading abilities. However, music education alone failed to produce improvements in reading skills comparable to those resulting from traditional intervention methods for DD. Therefore, a computer-assisted intervention method, called Rhythmic Reading Training (RRT), which combines sublexical reading exercises with rhythm processing, was implemented. The purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of RRT and that of an intervention resulting from the combination of two yet validated treatments for dyslexia, namely, Bakker\u2019s Visual Hemisphere-Specific Stimulation (VHSS) and the Action Video Game Training (AVG). Both interventions, administered for 13 h over 9 days, significantly improved reading speed and accuracy of a group of Italian students with dyslexia aged 8\u201314. However, each intervention program produced improvements that were more evident in specific reading parameters: RRT was more effective for improvement of pseudoword reading speed, whereas VHSS + AVG was more effective in increasing general reading accuracy. Such different effects were found to be associated with different cognitive mechanisms, namely, phonological awareness for RRT and rapid automatized naming for VHSS + AVG, thus explaining the specific contribution of each training approach. Clinical Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02791841

Improving reading skills in students with dyslexia: The efficacy of a sublessical training with rhythmic background

music and dyslexi

Cognitive Processes Underlying Reading Improvement during a Rhythm-Based Intervention. A Small-Scale Investigation of Italian Children with Dyslexia

Music and rhythm-based training programs to improve reading are a novel approach to treatment of developmental dyslexia and have attracted the attention of trainers and researchers. Experimental studies demonstrating poor basic auditory processing abilities in individuals with dyslexia suggest they should be effective. On this basis, the efficacy of a novel rhythm-based intervention, Rhythmic Reading Training (RRT), was recently investigated and found to improve reading skills in Italian children with dyslexia, but its mode of action remains somewhat unclear. In this study, 19 children and preadolescents with dyslexia received 20 sessions of RRT over 10 weeks. Gains in a set of reading-related cognitive abilities\u2014verbal working memory, auditory, and visual attention, and rhythm processing\u2014were measured, along with reading outcomes. Analysis of the specific contribution of cognitive subprocesses to the primary effect of RRT highlighted that reading speed improvement during the intervention was related to rhythm and auditory discrimination abilities as well as verbal working memory. The relationships among specific reading parameters and the neuropsychological profile of participants are discussed

The Effectiveness of Dyslexia Interventions: A Systematic Review

Dyslexia afflicts roughly 20 % of the population in the United States regardless of intellectual capability, age, gender, and educational opportunities. Over the years the literature on the causes and deficits of dyslexia have expanded, which have brought about different subcategorizations of dyslexia, theoretical frameworks, and interventions. However, even with the advent increase of literature on dyslexia, there is a sparce number of systematic reviews on interventions for dyslexia. In this systematic review, 19 intervention studies on dyslexia were collected and reviewed. This study extracted the following: the types of empirically studied interventions for dyslexia, the target populations receiving interventions for dyslexia, and the extent to which these interventions are effective at improving reading and spelling outcomes. Ultimately, this study found that there was a noticeable lack of research on dyslexia within the United States and interventions for adults with dyslexia. Research on dyslexia has been predominantly focused upon on young children as an initiative towards early intervention, however this may unintentionally lead to the adult population being over-looked when designing and evaluating interventions.Bachelor of Art

Technology in Rehabilitative Interventions for Children

This Special Issue is aimed to offer an overview of studies presenting new rehabilitation approaches addressed to children with neurodevelopmental disorders, designed to enhance the effects of learning processes through the use of new technologies. The contributions of this Special Issue, authored by researchers and clinicians from some of the most valued Italian scientific institutions in the field of neurodevelopmental disorders, can offer some useful data and advice on the use of technology in rehabilitation and telerehabilitation to researchers, rehabilitators, clinicians and pratictioners (psychologists, neuropsychologists, speech therapists, etc.)

The alleged link between creativity and dyslexia: Identifying the specific process in which dyslexic students excel

AbstractIt is often argued that individuals with developmental dyslexia (DD) are particularly creative. In order to test this claim, in Study 1 the WCR (widening, connecting and reorganizing) Creativity Test was administered to 52 junior high school students, 19 of whom diagnosed with DD. Results showed that students with DD performed significantly better in the connecting task, which consisted in carrying unusual combination of ideas out. This finding was supported by Study 2, involving a small sample of junior high school students with DD, where a negative correlation between connecting abilities and reading skills emerged. This investigation contributes to the understanding of the peculiar cognitive functioning of people with learning disabilities

A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF LITERACY TUTORING IN VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: INSTRUCTIONAL AND RELATIONAL PRACTICES TO SUPPORT LEARNERS WITH DYSLEXIA

This qualitative collective case study examined the relational and professional practices literacy tutors used to support learners with dyslexia in virtual learning environments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through individual interviews, literacy tutors who rapidly transitioned to online teaching described their lived experiences during this historic time. Three themes were identified through cross-case analysis: adapting instructional practices to virtual environments, caring for students and parents, and reflecting on professional practice. The results of this study described evidence which suggests implications for future practice, including teacher preparation, virtual tutoring, and reflective teaching