Efficacy of the Rhythmic Reading Training in Turkish Children With Dyslexia

ABSTRACT Background Rhythmic reading training (RRT) is a rhythm‐based intervention designed for individuals with dyslexia. Studies on RRT demonstrated its positive effect on reading abilities on Italian children and adolescents with dyslexia. To evaluate the cross‐linguistic effectiveness of the rhythm‐based intervention and to introduce a novel approach to a different population, a Turkish adaptation of RRT, called Ritmik Okuma Eğitimi (ROE), was designed. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of ROE. Methods Thirty‐three Turkish children (15 girls, 18 boys), aged between 8 and 11 years ( M = 9.18), diagnosed with dyslexia, were included in this study. The training group involved 16 Turkish students with dyslexia (seven girls, nine boys), who participated in 10 individual 40‐min sessions over a 5‐week period, during which the rhythm‐based intervention was implemented. Reading improvements after the intervention were compared with ones of a matched control group of 17 Turkish students with dyslexia (eight girls, nine boys) who received a math intervention. Results Participants in the ROE training group improved their text reading speed and ability to read both words and nonwords. In addition, there was a significant improvement in word and nonword accuracy in the intervention group. No significant differences emerged between groups for text reading accuracy and rapid naming skills. Conclusions These findings offer preliminary support that rhythm‐based interventions are an effective method for enhancing reading skills across different languages.