Effect of Cognitive Intervention Training on the Elementary School Students’ Reading Performance with Dyslexia

This experimental study investigated the effectiveness of Cognitive Intervention Training on Iranian Elementary School Students’ Reading Performance with Dyslexia. This study was a pre-test and post-test research with a control group. The participants included male and female elementary school students in the third grade in Koudasht - Iran. Thirty-two dyslexic students with an average IQ between 90 to 110 were the sample in this study. They ranged in age from eight to eleven. They were randomly selected. The participants were equally divided into control and experimental groups. The instruments utilized in this study were Wechsler Intelligence Test for Children (WITC), Reading and Dyslexia Test (NEMA), and Cognitive Intervention Training Program. For ten weeks, this program was provided to the experimental group. The test (NEMA) was administered among students to measure their reading performance in pre-and post-tests. Descriptive statistics and covariance analysis showed a meaningful difference between the two groups after applying for the cognitive training at p ˂ 0.01. After receiving cognitive intervention training, experimental students improved their reading performance. The dependent sample t-test also revealed this program was influential in the students’ reading performance with Dyslexia, particularly, on reading words, chain words, words, and text comprehension components. The findings propose that teachers consider this program on different learning steps and prepare more effective activities to help students improve their performance on reading difficulties.