Development of a remediation program for Egyptian dyslexic children

The present study was designed to formulate a remediation program for Arabic speaking children suffering from dyslexia based on improving phonological awareness using materials appropriate for Arabic culture. The study was carried out at the unit of Phoniatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria main university hospital. The subjects were divided into two groups.Group I: 30 dyslexic children of both sexes in the age range of 6[1/2]-10[1/2] years on which the proposed remediation programme was applied. Group II: 30 dyslexic children age and sexmatched were included as a control group; they received no remediation programs during the time of conduction of the study. The formulated Arabic remediation program was based on improving the phonological awareness for dyslexic children, after the Phonological Awareness Training for Reading Program. Modifications and additions were made to suit the nature of the Arabic language, and face the differences between Arabic and English orthography. The program was divided into sound blending, sound segmenting, reading and spelling activities. The training program was applied twice weekly, with session duration lasting from 25 to 30 min. Each session had about 2 or 3 children. The studied groups were subjected to protocol for evaluation of dyslexia before and after therapy to document to evaluate the improvement and the stability in the condition of these children. The presented training program significantly improved reading, writing and phonological awareness of dyslexic cases. The present study highlighted the importance of phonological awareness skills as a prerequisite for emergence of literacy skills. The program was modified to suit Arabic speaking Egyptian children. The study found that the age of the child is the most important predictor factor, the younger the age of intervention the better the outcome of therapy program

Study of the neurologic soft signs in a sample of obsessive compulsive patients and its correlation with the severity of obsessive compulsive symptoms and the degree of insight

Is to detect the presence of Neurologic Soft Signs [NSS] in a group of patients having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder [OCD] and its correlation to the clinical presentation of OC symptoms and the degree of insight. 50 patients with OCD and 50 healthy subjects were assessed for the presence of NSSs by using physical and neurological examination of soft signs scale [PANESS]. In the patients group, Yale-Brown OC scale [Y-BOCS], and scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder will be used to evaluate the severity of OC symptoms and the degree of insight. The total mean NSS score was significantly higher in patient group compared to control group [P=0.000] as regard the following items of PANESS [balance, motor movement, and graphesthesia]. The total NSS score was positively correlated with total OC symptoms score and duration of illness. Also, patients with poor insight had a significantly higher soft sign mean score than patients with good insight. Neurological soft signs are likely to relate to both structural and functional brain abnormalities that the affected regions of the brain for NSS probably resemble those in OCD, and that NSSs may be followed by the symptoms of OCD