The effectiveness of Kephart's visual-motor method on improving reading skills and elementary school students with special learning disorder

This research was aimed to determine the effectiveness of Kephart's visual-motor method on reading difficulties of students with reading disabilities.

The design of the study was clinical-trial with pre-test, post-test and follow-up. The intervention was designed based on Kephart's visual-motor method. The subjects of this intervention were selected among students with reading difficulties whom had been referred to two private centers for learning disorders in  Rafsanjan  and have been diagnosed with reading disorders according to the tests administered in the centers. In this case study, ten students were selected through convenience sampling. The intervention program was designed based on Kepart's visual-motor method and was practiced for ten weeks (one session each week). Reading assessment questionnaire was used to assess reading skills. Data was analyzed using SPSS software (version 22).  

The highest means in the pre-test were related to the sound of the letters of the alphabet (37.40) and the silent letters (23.00). The highest means in the post-test were related to the sound of the letters of the alphabet (39.70) and the name of the letters of the alphabet (23.60). In follow-up, the highest means were related to of sound of the letters of the alphabet (40/00) and the name of the alphabet (24/90). The lowest averages in pre-test, post-test and follow up, consequetatively belonged to rhyme detection (0/20,  2.1, 2.10) and suffixes (1.80, 2.00, 2.30). In order to test the scores of individuals in three stages of pre-test, post-test and follow-up, Wilk lambda multivariate test was used. The results of the multivariate test showed (pvalue = 0/035  α ≤ 0/05) for removing the final sound and naming the sound of the remaining letters,  (pvalue = 0/037 α≤0/05) for reading the words (1) and (pvalue =0/001 α ≤0/05) for the compound words. There is a significant difference between the subjects in pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. The effectiveness has not been confirmed in other scales. In the study of intragroup effects, the subscale of the vowel alphabet(α≤ 0/02)  was significant in three stages

Kepart's visual-motor method was effective in improving  the reading disorders in students with reading disability in some reading skills such as dropping the last sound, word reading and vowel combinations