Abstract
The impact of a six-week multimodal summer camp program on the self-concept and reading/writing skills of a group of dyslexic students (n=42) was assessed. Campers ranged in age from 9 to 14 years (mean=11 years, 5 months) and came from public, private, and specialized private schools serving students with learning disability (LD). Twenty-six percent of the sample had a comorbid diagnoses of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and 11 percent had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Campers improved significantly in phonetic reading and spelling skills, but not in sight word vocabulary or reading speed. Campers also exhibited significant improvements in self-concept, both on a general level and in the specific areas of reading and overall academic competence. The kinds of changes observed on the more general measures of self-concept, however, were not the same for the various groups of campers. Campers from regular private schools and from public schools typically experienced greater gains in general self-concept than did campers from LD private schools. Campers with diagnosed comorbid disorders typically realized little or no gains, whereas campers without ADD or ADHD displayed significant improvement in general self-concept.
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Van Westervelt, D., Johnson, D.C., Westervelt, M.D. et al. Changes in self-concept and academic skills during a multimodal summer camp program. Ann. of Dyslexia 48, 189–212 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-998-0009-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-998-0009-2