ABSTRACT
Phonemic awareness is one of the most important predictors of reading skills that has been taught by different procedures. One of the procedures is implementation of direct instruction in instruction of phonemic awareness. Current study is one of the unique studies in Iran that investigate impact of direct instruction in phonemic awareness on reading achievement of students with reading disorder. Three male second grade elementary students with reading disorder in a regular school in district six of the office of education in Tehran were selected. Multiple-baseline across subjects was selected as a research design. The following tests were used as diagnostic criteria: reading and dyslexia test and Wechsler intelligence scale for children-revised. Moreover, a reading inventory consisting of 100 words was developed by researchers to assess the reading ability of the subjects. Data were collected in three phases: baseline, intervention, and follow-up. During the intervention phase, the intervention strategies were used while during baseline and follow-up, data were collected without any intervention. Comparing three phases of the study, we may conclude that intervention package consisting of direct instruction of phonological awareness was an effective strategy in reading achievement of all three students. In addition, follow-up data indicated that the effects of the intervention procedures were stable across time. Direct instruction of phonological awareness was effective in reading achievement of students with reading disorder in elementary school and increasing their abilities in reading
ABSTRACT
Hearing impaired individuals, who have undergone cochlear implantation, do not have satisfactory relationships with their peers and cannot be fully integrated into the hearing communities. The main purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a family-oriented social skills training program on cochlear implant users. In this experimental study, 16 volunteer families consisting of mothers and their 12-19 year old children, who had undergone cochlear implantation at least two years in advance, were chosen from 328 families, members of the Hearing Rehabilitation Association of Iran. They responded to social skills rating scale as pre-test after they were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. The experimental group underwent a 12-session social skills training. The social skills rating scale was then administered as a post-test in the two groups. The results showed the effectiveness of the family-oriented social skills training program on assertion [p<0.01], self-controlling [p<0.01], and general social skills [p< 0.01]; however, they showed no significant effect on cooperation [p>0.05]. The study revealed that family-oriented social skills training program is effective in improving the social skills of individuals with cochlear implantation. Therefore, this training program can be employed to improve these skills as an integral part of the rehabilitation program