Parent-implemented intervention for children in third to fifth grade with dyslexia

Few studies have investigated the acceptability and efficacy of intensive parent-implemented interventions for children with dyslexia.

We carried out a randomized controlled trial on 22 dyslexic children from 3rd to 5th grade. Reading performance was measured before (T1) and after (T2) summer by a selection of tests from the BALE and EDA batteries. One group received a specific parent-implemented repeated reading training (RR group) and the other group received a general training based on a summer vacation workbook (SVW group), adapted for children with reading impairment. The training lasted 6 weeks during the summer vacation.

In both groups, the reading performances of the dyslexic children were stable before and after the summer. No group difference was found on our primary outcome corresponding to an aggregate score of the z-scores of the BALE reading lists of regular, irregular and pseudo-words. However, secondary analyses revealed that the score of the EDA subtest "number of words read in one minute" (tapping reading fluency) differed significantly between the two groups (T2-T1=0.17 SD for the RR group and T2-T1=-0.24 SD for the SVW group; P=0.015). Acceptability was generally good (dropout rate of 9% in the RR group).

A repeated reading intervention applied by parents may improve reading fluency of dyslexic children during summer vacation, with a good acceptability. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings.