Self-Regulation Strategies Training on Improving Reading Skills of Male Students with Specific Learning Disabilities with Specifier Dyslexia

Learning disorders are considered as great obstacles to academic achievement and learning of individuals. Reading is one of the major methods of acquiring information, knowledge and one of the most prominent learning tools for students. The existing reality represents that low ability of the students in learning disabilities and a weakness in acquiring this skill. Specific learning disabilities with specifier dyslexia is a heterogeneous symptom that comes because of phonetics flaw and obviously, reading disorders can cause many problems for individuals. The aim of the current study was to determine the effect of self-regulation strategies training to improve reading skills of male students with specifier dyslexia. This study was a quasi-experimental with pre-test/post-test and a control group. A total of 27 male elementary school students with specific learning disabilities with specifier dyslexia from Rasht city (North of Iran) in school year 2016-2017.Theywere selected as available based on clinical interviews and information in their educational records that they had been diagnosed with specific reading disorder, learning disorder. Subjects assigned to two experimental and control groups. Ten sessions of self-regulation strategies training were performed for the experimental group. Reading and dyslexic test was used before and after training to collect data. This test had 10 subtests for reading words, word chain, rhyming, naming images, understanding text, understanding words, removing voices, reading nonwords, signs of the letters and the signs of the category. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (covariance analysis) by SPSS version 23 and the significance level for all tests was 0.05. Results of multivariate analysis of covariance with removed pre-test scores effects revealed that self-regulation strategies training were significantly improve reading skills of the experimental group in comparison with the control group(p<0.05).Results obtained from the multivariate analysis of covariance showed a significant difference between mean scores of reading words(F=129.11), word chain(F=213.17), rhyming (F=355.56), naming images(F=327.78), understanding a text (F=49.37), understanding words (F=210), removing voices(F=1.23), reading nonwords (F=62.95), signs of letters (F=838.59) and signs of category (F=1.73) between the experimental and control groups. In the experimental group, mean and standard deviation of post-test scores were increased in comparison with the pre-test, but in the control group, there was no significant difference in reading skills in comparison with the pre-test and post-test scores. Considering the study findings in effectiveness of self-regulation training in reading skills, it is necessary to design broad programs to improve the ability of children's reading performance based on self-regulation education. Attention to the psychological problems of these students could be effective in expanding their learning and these results have important implications for using these skills as an interventional method in schools and health centers.