This is from the excellent blog, Dyslexia Tutor: News-Resources, published by
Evaluating Controversial Therapies for Dyslexia | Dyslexia Tutor: News-Resources.
Evaluating Controversial Therapies for Dyslexia | Dyslexia Tutor: News-Resources.
The latest issue of “Perspectives,” the quarterly publication of the International Dyslexia Association, is themed “Controversial Therapies for Dyslexia.”
According to theme editor Bruce Pennington the goal of this issue is to illustrate how to evaluate treatments for students with dyslexia.
Contributors review treatments that have many advocates (and clients) but have not been proven scientifically to be effective. One clear message is that there is an important distinction between “process-focused” and “performance-based” therapies.
Process-focused therapies are based on the theory that what underlies a given learning disorder is a deficit in a simple sensory or motor process.
Performance-based therapies target symptoms directly and treat them. For example, performance-based therapies for dyslexia would provide instruction and guided practice in reading itself.
As the articles suggest, it is easier to provide evidence of effectiveness for performance-based therapies than it is for those that are process-focused.
