Action research on the effect of play therapy on improving dysgraphia and increasing the processing speed of third grade elementary school students

Introduction: The processing speed of work requires the perception, measurement, and sounds of a reaction. It is important to study the dimensions of processing speed and how it relates to functional outcomes because processing speed can be affected by a variety of neurological and developmental disorders and impaired processing speed can negatively affect the rate of learning and acquisition of new skills in school. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of play therapy on increasing processing speed and improving spelling and calligraphy of third grade elementary school students referred to Mulla Sadra Learning Disabilities Center in Tabriz. Method: The research method was action research and the study sample was a third grade elementary school student with a problem of calligraphy and slow writing who referred to Mulla Sadra Learning Disabilities Center in ۱۴۰۰. The Wechsler pre-test was taken from the student in question, and it was found that the score of the processing speed subscale differed by about thirty points from the other subscales and the total scale. It was found that the student had a problem with spelling and misspellings. The Wepman and Andre Ray tests were also performed to identify the problem from the student, who scored very high on both tests. After evaluating the clinical and specialized interview by the center instructor, it was determined that the student had a superior hand, his right hand, and had mistakenly started writing with his left hand. In order to improve the problem, a play therapy method was adopted (consisting of plays to strengthen the right hand and writing with the right hand and plays to increase the processing speed). After ۱۵ sessions of play therapy, post-tests: Wechsler (processing speed subscale) and dysgraphia test were performed. Results: The results of the post-tests showed an increase of ۱۵ points in the post-test of processing speed (pre-test level score ۸۰, post-test: ۹۵) and decrease of dysgraphia score (from ۲۵ errors to ۵ writing errors). And improved spelling and reduced writing time (pre-test writing time: ۳۰ minutes, post-test writing time: ۱۷ minutes). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that play therapy had an effect on increasing the processing speed and improving the spelling and calligraphy of the student. It is suggested that future studies be conducted with an effective research design and with more examples so that the research results can be generalized to a larger community.

کلیدواژه ها:

processing speed ، play therapy ، dysgraphia ، Student