The effect of Rhythmic-Musical Exercises on Visual Perception and Executive Function of 8-10 Year Old Children with Dyslexia

This study aimed to investigate the effect of rhythmic-musical exercises on visual perception and executive function of 8-10 years old children with dyslexia. Methods: The research design was quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test. The participants included 23 children with dyslexia aged between 8 and 10 years who were selected through convenience sampling and, after matching, were randomly assigned into the experimental and control groups. The experimental group participated in rhythmic-musical exercises for 12 weeks (3 sessions per week), but the control group did not receive any intervention during this time. Prior and following the intervention, visual perception skills were measured by the Test of Visual-Perceptual Skills-Revised (TVPS-R) and the executive functions by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). The data were analyzed using covariance test. Results: The Findings of the analyses indicated that the rhythmic-musical exercises improved the visual perception skills and executive functions of the children with dyslexia. Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, it might be concluded that the rhythmic-musical exercises can be used to enhance the visual perceptual skills and executive functions of children with dyslexia.