Efficacy of computer-assisted rehabilitation program for central auditory processing disorder on auditory perception and dictation of students with reading disorder

Research background in students with reading disorders shows that central auditory processing disorder has a major role in improving this disorder as well as improving auditory perception in children. However, less research has been done on the role of computers and computer games in the education and rehabilitation of these children.

The present research was conducted with the goal of examining the efficacy of a computer-assisted rehabilitation program for central auditory processing disorder on auditory perception and dictation of students with reading disorder.

This study was a quasi-experimental study with pre-test, post-test design and follow-up with a control group. The statistical population of the present study included all students in the second grade of elementary school who were referred to special centers for learning disabilities in Tehran in the academic year 2016-2017. To select the sample, using the available sampling method, among the children who met the inclusion criteria, 36 students were selected by the available method and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The research instruments were Fisher’s Auditory Problems Checklist (1976), Dichotic Digit test (2015), Speech in Noise test (2015), Auditory Perception (Hassanzadeh, 2015) and Dictation tests (Ministry of Education, 2018). In order to analyze the obtained data, the Repeated Measures ANOVA was used.

The findings showed that there was a significant difference between the experimental group and the control group in the variables of Auditory Perception and Dictation (p˃ 0.001). The results also demonstrated that not only there existed a significant difference between the two groups, but that the main effect of the time factor was significant for the variables of Auditory Perception and Dictation (p˃ 0.001) and there was a significant difference between the mean scores of Auditory Perception and Dictation variables in the pretest, posttest and follow-up.

Due to the obtained results, it can be concluded that the computer-assisted rehabilitation program for central auditory processing disorder improves auditory perception and spelling problems of students with reading disorders.