Rhythm and Music to Rehabilitate Reading Disorders

Rhythm and Music to Rehabilitate Reading Disorders

The purpose of this study is to determine whether music training is an effective treatment of reading disorders

Introduction: Children with dyslexia show deficits in temporal processing, both in language and in music. Musical activity increases phonological awareness, word segmentation, working memory, as well as reading abilities in children with typical development, a compelling evidence for a role of music training in fostering brain plasticity. Within this theoretical framework, we investigate the hypothesis that music training, by improving temporal processing and rhythm abilities, improves phonological awareness and reading skills in children with dyslexia.

Methods: The study is a prospective, multicenter, open randomized controlled trial, consisting of test, rehabilitation and re-test

Inclusion Criteria:

• Italian native language
• Reading performance (accuracy and/or speed) failed on at least two of three school grade standardized Italian tests: text, words, pseudowords (cut-offs: z-score <-1.8 standard deviations from the mean for speed scores, a score <5th percentile in the accuracy scores).
• Hearing and neurological examination within normal range
• Normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity
• General IQ >85 at Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children III.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Presence of comorbidity involving Attentional Deficit Disorders with Hyperactivity (ADHD)
• Presence of comorbidity involving Specific Language Impairment (SLI)
• Presence of comorbidity involving Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
• Severe emotional-relational impairments
• Previous formal musical or painting education for more than one year, other on-going treatment.
• Presence of other diseases (i.e. diabetes , cystic fibrosis, asthma...) that could influence the performance in cognitive and executive functions.