AN EVALUATION OF THE DYSLEXIA TRAINING-PROGRAM - A MULTISENSORY METHOD FOR PROMOTING READING IN STUDENTS WITH READING DISABILITIES

The development of reading and spelling skills in students with dyslex ia, by definition, is delayed and often remains delayed despite years of instruction. Three qualities are thought to facilitate reading deve lopment in these children: the provision of a highly structured phonet ic-instruction training program with heavy emphasis on the alphabetic system, drill and repetition to compensate for short-term verbal memor y deficits, and multisensory methods to promote nonlanguage mental rep resentations. The Dyslexia Training Program, a remedial reading progra m derived from Orton-Gillingham methods, embodies these qualities. Fol lowing their 2-year program, students displaying dyslexia demonstrated significantly higher reading recognition and comprehension compared w ith a control group. The two groups did not differ in spelling. in add ition, the degree of improvement in reading demonstrated by students w ho received the Dyslexia Training Program by videotape and by those wh o received it live from instructors did not differ.