hamdollah abdolmaleki

Dyslexia is one of the most controversial problems of students with specific learning disability. In dyslexia, children use decoding words and try to generalize, i.e., read new words not previously seen. Reading disorder should be considered one of the most essential factors of school dropout, academic failure, and other psychological consequences among students. Therefore, it is imperative to use effective methods for reading disorders. Multisensory methods are among the effective methods for improving reading disorders based on family–centered education—the importance of family–centered intervention results from the direct family relationship with the disordered child. The present study investigates the effectiveness of the family–centered multisensory program on reading skills and its components in 8– to 9–year–old students with specific learning disabilities.

The present study adopted a quasi–experimental approach with a pretest–posttest design with a control group. The statistical population included all students referring to two educational centers and part of special problems in Qorveh City, Iran. The research sample included 28 volunteer students with reading disorders, selected by an accessible sampling. Then, they were divided into two groups, experimental and control (14 people in each group). The inclusion criteria were students studying in the second grade of elementary school, not taking drugs in the field of psychological problems, not undergoing psychological treatment, and having parental consent. Family–centered multisensory intervention program was performed in 16 informative sessions for parents of the experimental group. The study data were collected using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–the Fourth Edition (WISC–IV) (Wechsler, 2003) and the Reading and Dyslexia Test (NEMA) (Kormi Nouri & Moradi, 2005). To analyze the data, descriptive (frequency distribution table, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (univariate covariance analysis test) were used at a significance level of 0.05 by SPSS version 21 software.

The results showed that the family–centered multisensory program training led to a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the reading variable and its components (reading, reading words, word chain, rhyme test, naming pictures, comprehending text, comprehending words, eliminating sounds, reading non–words and pseudowords, letter signs test and category signs test) (p<0.001). Also, the effect of family–centered multisensory program training on the reading variable was found to be 0.407.

Based on the findings, a family–centered multisensory intervention program can reduce the effects of the reading disorder and eliminate the consequences of dyslexia. It is also effective for solving reading disorders and improving reading and its components in second–grade students.

Some factors challenge the learning process for students, including a Specific Learning Disability (SLD). Samuel Kirk first noticed this disorder in 1963. Human resources have been added to it, and scholars concluded that SLDs are pretty different from mental disabilities. Therefore, to prevent thematic sputum, learning disability was limited to 3 topics; dyslexia (reading skills), math disorder, and writing disorder. Since then, it has been known as an SLD. This division caused the spectrum of SLD students to be separated from the spectrum of children with biopsychological disabilities. Over time, special training was developed to improve their condition. SLD is among the problems of ordinary students in education. Diagnosing learning disorders was very difficult until formal training began. Therefore, with its initiation and lack of academic achievement of students with SLDs, teachers and instructors will imagine that they are low–profile students if this is merely an impairment that can be improved. The lack of accurate and timely identification of these students from trainers and teachers. Another factor in criticizing their academic status is that the disorder can also emerge from other problems such as social skills and understanding. Students have survived the competition for competition in school; thus, they did not attempt to improve and separate their peers from their peers. Therefore, various tools for enhancing the academic status of students with SLDs have been presented; however, each has limitations. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of family–centered multibased programs on reading skills, understing, and social performance in SLD students.

This was a quasi–experimental study with pretest–posttest and a control group design. The statistical population was all knowledge (both genders) referring to two Centers of Learning Disorder of Qorveh City, Iran. The research sample consisted of 28 volunteers with SLDs and dyslexia, i.e., obtained by a random sampling method and randomly divided into the experimental and control group. First, to differentiate students with SLDs from other disorders, the Wechsler 4 test was performed among all students to determine the IQ score and active memory score of students. To identify students with SLDs, the scores that differed from the full scale by 12 points were separated and marked as students with SLDs. Then, by performing a dyslexia test, among the marked students, students with SLDs and reading difficulties were identified (n=28). They were divided into the control and experimental groups (n=14/group). Next, while maintaining the Wechsler test and dyslexia as a pretest for each member, the social skills test was taken as another pretest. To conduct research and encourage cooperation from the subjects, consent was obtained from the parents to play a central role in teaching in the present study of the family. Therefore, for justifying them, 16 sessions were first held for parents of the experimental group, and they became acquainted with all stages of family–centered multisensory training. Then, only for the experimental group, the sixteen–session of 45 minutes of education was based on multiple sensory bases by the Families. Meanwhile, the researcher was in the training of students in students and the family intervention. Wechsler Intelligence Scale collected data for Children (2003), social skills (Gersham and Elliott, 1990), and dyslexia test (Karami and Moradi, 2001) in pretest and posttest stages. After training, a posttest was performed on the experimental and control groups to obtain the difference in the independent variable on the experimental group. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS by Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at a significant level of 0.05.

The ANCOVA results indicated that education (family–centered multisensory program) could lead to a significant difference in the mean scores of dependent variables (reading skills, comprehension, and students' social performance) in the posttest stage. The effect of family–centered multisensory training on students' reading, comprehension, and social performance was 0.32, 0.65, and 0.36, respectively (p<0.001).

According to the research findings, students with SLDs can progress in academic and social skills using a family–based multisensory program. Therefore, with the implementation of dyslexic problems, improving the social skills and understanding of children with SLDs in the experimental group was observed.