Investigation of the effect of visual praxis-based occupational therapy education program on motor and reading skills of children with specific learning disorders

The study was planned to examine the effect of visual-praxis-based occupational therapy education program (VPOTEP), which will be applied to children diagnosed with Specific Learning Disorder (SLD), on motor and reading skills. Forty-two children who were diagnosed with SLD, met the inclusion criteria, and volunteered were included in the study. The study was conducted using a randomized controlled single-blind cross-over study design. In order to plan the VPOTEP to be created, the Motor Free Visual Perception Test-3 (MVPT-3) was applied before the training program. In addition, before the VPOTEP, the Reading Aloud and Reading Comprehension Test 2 (SOBAT-2) was evaluated to all participants to assess their reading skills, and the Bruninks-Oserestry Motor Proficiency Test 2 Brief Form (BOT2-BF) was evaluated to assess the motor skills of the children. Then the participants were randomly divided into 2 groups, A and B. According to the study design, VPOTEP was applied to group A, 2 sessions per week for 8 weeks, each session being 45 minutes. During this period, group B was accepted as the control group and no intervention was applied. At the end of 8 weeks, evaluation tests were applied to both groups for the second time. Then, group A was defined as the control group and group B as the intervention group, and VPOTEP was applied to group B, 2 sessions per week for 8 weeks, with 45 minutes each session. At the end of 8 weeks, evaluation tests were applied to both groups for the third time, and the results were recorded. When the BOT2-BF results were examined, it was found that VPOTEP was effective in the development of motor skills (except balance, manuel dexterity and strenght motor skills). In addition, when the SOBAT-2 results were examined, it was determined that VPOTEP was an effective program for improving reading speed, fluent reading, correct reading and reading comprehension (p<0.05). We think that it is important to carry out comprehensive studies such as GEEP at the point of solving the problems in the daily and academic lives of children with SLD. Keywords: Occupational Therapy, Reading Skills, Motor Skills, Specific Learning Disorders