Effectiveness of Play Therapy in Improving Visual Attention in Students with Dysgraphia: A Single-Subject Study

Visual attention is one of the most important skills and abilities students require to pass different school levels. These abilities are defected in students suffering from dysgraphia. The current study investigated the effect of play therapy on improving visual attention in students with dysgraphia through a single subject study. Three of the students visiting Esfahan’s Cognitive Therapy Centre were selected as the participants of this study. Each participant went through 3 sessions as the base line, 12 sessions of play therapy and 3 sessions of follow-up. NEPSY and the spelling test were used to measure the amount of improvement in visual attention and dysgraphia, respectively. Results of the visual analysis of data and descriptive statistics showed the effectiveness of the intervention in all three participants (100% PND for all three participants). Visual attention improved by play therapy in students with dysgraphia. Therefore, play therapy can be used as a method for improving academic performance in students suffering from dysgraphia.