The impact of Lindamood Phonological Sequencing Program on the reading performance of students with specific learning disorder

Many elementary school children, even those with average or above-average IQs and good adaptability, often struggle with schoolwork. These challenges are commonly referred to as learning disabilities or learning disorders. Among the types of learning, learning to read is of particular importance in the education system, and students who finish elementary school are expected to read fluently and understand everything they read. Reading is a complex cognitive process of understanding the text, and the reader needs to coordinate information about the subject, using different reading strategies and extracting meaning. To truly learn, students first need to develop their reading skills. Reading is one of the essential tools for learning. Therefore, paying special attention to treating children with reading problems is necessary.A common feature of all children with learning disabilities is difficulty learning school subjects. Students with learning problems tend to internalize their negative experiences at school and often doubt their academic success because they have more problems learning than their peers. Research shows that the three main components of reading, reading ability, reading speed, and reading comprehension, are influenced by cognitive factors such as phonological awareness and working memory function, and deficiencies in these factors have shown a high correlation with reading problems (10). Phonological awareness is essential for literacy success and is a simultaneous and reliable predictor of reading ability (12). Linamood Phonological Sequencing (LiPS) Program provides systematic and explicit psychological instruction in phonemic awareness, along with everyday experiences in reading and writing. Phonological awareness is “a conscious sensitivity to the sound structure of language.” In other words, the ability to analyze spoken language and recognize that it is composed of smaller units. Phonological awareness is used to describe awareness of spoken language at the level of word, syllable, onset, time and phoneme (11). Stimulating phonological awareness is the primary goal of the Lindamood Program, helping students with speaking, spelling, and reading. In this program, the student tries to integrate sensory information, including hearing, seeing, and feeling, and receiving feedback from these senses helps to develop phonological awareness and decoding (29).Phonological awareness is related to the speed and accuracy of reading in children with auditory processing disorder; therefore, in addition to paying attention to phonological skills, it is also essential to strengthen auditory processing skills because these children’s reading skills will be strengthened and improved. Therefore, due to the lack of comprehensive research in the field of the effect of the LiPS program on the reading performance of students with special learning disorders, the mentioned goal is investigated in the present research. Therefore, the research seeks to answer the following questions: 1- Does the LiPS Program increase the reading performance (reading errors, reading speed, and reading comprehension) of students with specific learning disabilities? 2- Does the LiPS Program have stable effects on reading performance over time? 3- Does the LiPS Program improve the subject’s performance in the standardized test? The results of this research can provide a clear and practical vision for counselors and psychotherapists. In addition, the research results can be a suitable theoretical and practical basis for improving reading performance in various educational and therapeutic institutions such as counseling centers in universities, clinics, and the like.

The research method utilized a single-subject experimental design with an emphasis on precision. Prior to implementing any experimental action, the behavior in question was thoroughly studied and measured. After the experiment, repeated measurements were taken to assess any changes in behavior. This study followed an A-B design, where the initial state (A) was carefully measured, followed by the implementation of the experimental action (B), and then the subject’s behavior was measured again during the follow-up phase.The participants in this study were three male fourth-grade students with specific learning disabilities who attended a regular school in Varzane, Iran, during the academic year 2021-2022. The criteria for selecting participants included reading problems as diagnosed by the Kormi-Nouri and Moradi (2008) reading and dyslexia test, parental consent, normal intelligence status with an IQ score of 85 or above on the Wechsler IQ Scale for Children, 4th edition, being monolingual, and having no visual or hearing impairments as confirmed by individual history forms.

To assess the effectiveness of the LiPS Program, the reading errors, reading speed, and reading comprehension level of all three subjects were compared between the baseline and intervention stages. Reading errors were measured by counting the number of added, deleted, replaced, or moved letters. Reading speed was determined by measuring the time taken to read a given text and the duration of stopping each word in seconds. The mean performance of the subjects during the baseline and intervention phases was used for analysis.All three subjects demonstrated fewer reading errors than the baseline phase in all intervention sessions. For example, the average, effect size, and indices of non-overlapping data adequacy for the first accuracy table are shown in Table 3. The g-Hedges effect size numbers presented in Table 3 suggest that the intervention effect was moderate. These findings indicate that using accurate teaching methods reduced reading problems.The effect of the LiPS Program on the subject’s performance in the standard Nama test was examined. Mohammad Erfan and Mohammad Hossein both showed significant progress in the subtests of reading, naming pictures, and category signs during the intervention and follow-up phases. Mahdi’s performance also improved in all subtests of the Nama test across all four stages of assessment. Mehdi demonstrated significant progress in the subtests of reading, naming pictures, and category signs during the intervention and follow-up phases. Moreover, Mahdi’s progress in reading non-words and pseudo-words, as well as understanding words, was also found to be significant. Overall, all three subjects significantly increased their performance during and after the intervention.

The results of comparing the reading performance of three subjects showed that the LiPS Program was most effective for Mohammad Hossein. From the beginning, Mohammad Hossein showed a willingness to cooperate and eagerness to participate in the program, which translated into better reading performance after just a few intervention sessions.However, the LiPS Program proved to be less effective for Mohammad Erfan, as reported by his teachers, who reported his low self-confidence.Additionally, his parents reported that he has become more sensitive and prone to anger since the birth of his younger brother. These particular traits were observed during the intervention sessions, and unfortunately, there was no notable improvement in his reading performance.His teachers and parents noted that Mahdi was not regularly doing his homework and was stubborn at home. However, after talking to him and explaining the program requirements, Mahdi cooperated well during the intervention sessions. Heshowedimprovements in reading and became motivated to do his homework after only a few sessions.Notably, the research results cannot be generalized to other age or gender groups or students with different disorders. The students’ retention of information could only be checked for up to one month, and generalization of learning to other similar texts was not tested due to time constraints in designing the tool for measuring reading performance. Future research should examine the LiPS Program’s effect on more extensive and diverse participant groups to provide more conclusive evidence to provide more conclusive evidence. It is also recommended that the program’s effectiveness be explored in terms of different types of reading comprehension and other skills, such as math and writing. Moreover, future studies should consider comorbid disorderswhen investigating specific learning disorders.The present research may be useful for educational planners and guardians of education in designing teaching methods for reading in elementary schools and improving students’ reading performance.