Usefulness of an Assistive Technology Training Program for Adolscents With Dyslexia (FormONC)

Usefulness of an Assistive Technology Training Program for Adolescents With Dyslexia: Pilot Study

Specific Written Language Disorders (SWLD) are severe and lasting impairments in the development of written language that affect approximately 10% of the school-age population.Concerned patients don't have any intellectual disability.

Speech therapy help them to improve their language skills but also to compensate for their difficulties.

School environment is one of the places where these disorders can constitute a real handicap.

Given the prevalence of disorders, governments but also supra-governmental authorities have promoted educational integration of the concerned patients around the world. In France, different systems exist to help these patients with SWLD to follow an education that allows them to update their capacities as much as possible. School facilities are proposed such as attribution of Assistive Technology (AT). Nevertheless, these facilities have some limitations.

Concerning AT, several studies have shown the benefits for patients with dyslexia such as a better use of them. However, there were some limitations in their use and their usefulness.

The lack of use training is one of the barriers cited by patients and caregivers (parents and teachers).

Assistive Technology training exists for patients with dyslexia but very few studies have measured their influence on their performance in written language. Moreover, these studies did not take into account the previous level of computer practice nor the natural appropriation of the AT (ie: anyone can appropriate themselves). It is therefore difficult to affirm the specificity of the training's influence.

This study aims to assess the usefulness of AT training on the written language performance of adolescents with dyslexia. This work will study teenager's autonomy and how they use these tools.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Adolescent; Dyslexia
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Training

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 12
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Hélène Desmaisons, MRS; Phone Number: +33231065905; Email: desmaisons-h@chu-caen.fr
• Study Contact Backup: Name: François Fournel, Mr; Phone Number: +33231065781; Email: fournel-f@chu-caen.fr

Study Locations

• France
  • Caen, France, 14000
    • Recruiting
    • Desmaisons
    • Contact: François Fournel, Mr; Phone Number: +33231065781; Email: fournel-f@chu-caen.fr
    • Contact: Hélène Desmaisons, MRS; Phone Number: +3321065905; Email: desmaisons-h@chu-caen.fr

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 6 years to 13 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• adolescents with dyslexia
• normal schooling (not in a specialized establishment)
• with attribution of assistive technology less than 3 months or planned soon or low usage

Exclusion Criteria:

• oral disabilities hindering intelligibility
• physical disabilities (hands) hindering use of AT
• auditive and visual disabilities

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Training; Program of training of use of assistive technology	Other: Training; Patients are trained to use AT (2 sessions of 4 hours). Written langage skills, autonomy, the use are evaluated before and after training.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Reading skills without assistive technology before training: number of words read	minimum 0 and maximum 152, higher scores mean a better outcome	9 weeks
Reading skills without assistive technology before training: number of misread	minimum 0 and maximum 152, higher scores mean a worse outcome	9 weeks
Reading skills without assistive technology before training: time to read	(in seconds, higher times mean a worse outcome)	9 weeks
Reading comprehension skills without assistive technology before training: titles choices	(higher scores mean a better outcome, minimum 0 and maximum 6)	9 weeks
Reading comprehension skills without assistive technology before training: right or wrong	(higher scores mean a better outcome: minimum 0 and maximum 8)	9 weeks
Reading comprehension skills without assistive technology before training: choice of the good answer	(higher scores mean a better outcome:minimum 0 and maximum 4).	9 weeks
Reading effectiveness without assistive technology before training	sum (minimum 0 and maximum 172: higher scores mean a better outcome) of number of correct read words (minimum 0 and maximum 152) plus comprehension score (minimum 0 and maximum 18) plus reading score (0: failed, 1: partially succeded, 2 succeded)	9 weeks
Reading skills without assistive technology after training: number of words read	(minimum 0 and maximum 152, higher scores mean a better outcome)	9 weeks
Reading skills without assistive technology after training: number of misread	(minimum 0 and maximum 152, higher scores mean a worse outcome)	9 weeks
Reading skills without assistive technology after training: time to read	(in seconds, higher times mean a worse outcome)	9 weeks
Reading comprehension skills without assistive technology after training: titles choices	(higher scores mean a better outcome, minimum 0 and maximum 6)	9 weeks
Reading comprehension skills without assistive technology after training: right or wrong	(higher scores mean a better outcome: minimum 0 and maximum 8)	9 weeks
Reading comprehension skills without assistive technology after training: choice of the good answer	(higher scores mean a better outcome:minimum 0 and maximum 4).	9 weeks
Reading effectiveness without assistive technology after training	sum (minimum 0 and maximum 172: higher scores mean a better outcome) of number of correct read words (minimum 0 and maximum 152) plus comprehension score (minimum 0 and maximum 18) plus reading score (0: failed, 1: partially succeded, 2 succeded)	9 weeks
Reading skills with assistive technology before training: number of words read	(minimum 0 and maximum 152, higher scores mean a better outcome)	9 weeks
Reading skills with assistive technology before training: number of misread	(minimum 0 and maximum 152, higher scores mean a worse outcome)	9 weeks
Reading skills with assistive technology before training: time to read	(in seconds, higher times mean a worse outcome)	9 weeks
Reading comprehension skills with assistive technology before training: titles choices	(higher scores mean a better outcome, minimum 0 and maximum 6)	9 weeks
Reading comprehension skills with assistive technology before training: right or wrong	(higher scores mean a better outcome: minimum 0 and maximum 8)	9 weeks
Reading comprehension skills with assistive technology before training: choice of the good answer	(higher scores mean a better outcome:minimum 0 and maximum 4).	9 weeks
Reading effectiveness with assistive technology before training	sum (minimum 0 and maximum 172: higher scores mean a better outcome) of number of correct read words (minimum 0 and maximum 152) plus comprehension score (minimum 0 and maximum 18) plus reading score (0: failed, 1: partially succeded, 2 succeded)	9 weeks
Reading skills with assistive technology after training: number of words read	(minimum 0 and maximum 152, higher scores mean a better outcome)	9 weeks
Reading skills with assistive technology after training: number of misread	(minimum 0 and maximum 152, higher scores mean a worse outcome)	9 weeks
Reading skills with assistive technology after training: time to read	(in seconds, higher times mean a worse outcome)	9 weeks
Reading comprehension skills with assistive technology after training: titles choices	(higher scores mean a better outcome, minimum 0 and maximum 6)	9 weeks
Reading comprehension skills with assistive technology after training: right or wrong	(higher scores mean a better outcome: minimum 0 and maximum 8)	9 weeks
Reading comprehension skills with assistive technology after training: choice of the good answer	(higher scores mean a better outcome:minimum 0 and maximum 4).	9 weeks
Reading effectiveness with assistive technology after training	sum (minimum 0 and maximum 172: higher scores mean a better outcome) of number of correct read words (minimum 0 and maximum 152) plus comprehension score (minimum 0 and maximum 18) plus reading score (0: failed, 1: partially succeded, 2 succeded)	9 weeks
Written skills without assistive technology before training	Number of correct written words (handwriting) in 3 minutes (higher scores mean a better outcome); Number of incorrect written words (handwriting) in 3 minutes (higher scores mean a worse outcome)	9 weeks
Written skills without assistive technology after training	Number of correct written words (handwriting) in 3 minutes (higher scores mean a better outcome); Number of incorrect written words (handwriting) in 3 minutes (higher scores mean a worse outcome)	9 weeks
Written skills with assistive technology before training	Number of correct written words in 3 minutes (higher scores mean a better outcome); Number of incorrect written words in 3 minutes (higher scores mean a worse outcome)	9 weeks
Written skills with assistive technology after training	Number of correct written words in 3 minutes (higher scores mean a better outcome); Number of incorrect written words in 3 minutes (higher scores mean a worse outcome)	9 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Autonomy before training	Autonomy in the daily life (number of help's need) (higher scores mean a worse outcome)	9 weeks
Autonomy after training	Autonomy in the daily life (number of help's need) (higher scores mean a worse outcome)	9 weeks
Effectiveness of assistive technology utilization before training: Frequency of use	(minutes per week) (higher scores mean a better outcome)	9 weeks
Effectiveness of assistive technology utilization before training: Number of different utilization locations	(home, school, …) (higher scores mean a better outcome)	9 weeks
Effectiveness of assistive technology utilization before training: Number of different accomplished tasks	(games, homework, messaging, social networks, …) (higher scores mean a better outcome)	9 weeks
Effectiveness of assistive technology utilization after training: Frequency of use	(minutes per week) (higher scores mean a better outcome)	9 weeks
Effectiveness of assistive technology utilization after training: Number of different utilization locations	(home, school, …) (higher scores mean a better outcome)	9 weeks
Effectiveness of assistive technology utilization after training: Number of different accomplished tasks	(games, homework, messaging, social networks, …) (higher scores mean a better outcome)	9 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Hospital, Caen
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Hélène Desmaisons, MRS, University Hospital of Caen

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 8, 2021
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): December 31, 2023
• Study Completion (Anticipated): December 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 19, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 24, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): December 5, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 5, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 24, 2022
• Last Verified: February 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: dyslexia; education; assistive technology; dyslexic adolescent
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Language Disorders; Communication Disorders; Learning Disabilities; Dyslexia
• Other Study ID Numbers: 20-160

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No