Comparing the Effects of Two Education-Based Intervention Programs on Visual Perception Processes of Children with Developmental Dyslexia

ABSTRACT Investigating the effects of the special education support program (SESP) and visual-praxis-based occupational therapy program (VPBOTP) on visual perception skills of children with developmental dyslexia (DD). A time-series quasi-experimental design with two stages was used. The first stage included visual perception assessments of children with DD who were registered to the SESP, using MVPT-3. Following the assessments, SESP was implemented for a total of 16 hours in the span of 8 weeks. In the second stage, MVPT-3 was administered for a second time, SESP’s implementation continued for another 16 hours and VPBOTP was implemented also for a total of 32 hours in the span of 8 weeks. Finally, the MVPT-3 was administered for the third time. VPBOTP was found to be statistically more effective than SESP in improving visual perception skills (p<0.05). VPBOTP offers a different, individualizable, and flexible approach for improving visual perception skills of children with DD and its usage can be widened to other populations.