The Effectiveness of Cognitive Rehabilitative Program on Executive Functions in Children with Dyscalculia

Objective: The academic success of students has great importance for family, educators and the community. Specific learning disorder reduces students' academic performance and make education difficult. Today, it is necessary to pay more attention to dyscalculia due to the increasing prevalence of learning disorders (especially dyscalculia), its diagnosis and assessment, develop new remediation and the use of scientific strategies to reduce symptoms. Negative consequences of math problems in early childhood probably influence on life individually and socially until adulthood. As far as, most children with dyscalculia have significant problems in executive function, the application of effective educational methods on executive functions will improve cognitive functions and learning. The present study conducted to determine the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation program on the executive functions of students with dyscalculia. Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population consisted of all 8 to 12 year-old students who were studying in specific schools for learning disorder in 2020-2021 school year at Sanandaj City. Thirty children (17 boys and 13 girls) were selected in convenience and assessed by using Iranian Key Math Test. Then, 28 students who got one standard deviation lower than the mean (≤85 points) diagnosed as dyscalculic by specialist and their parent singed written consent. Students were excluded if they had seizures and epilepsy or other neurodevelopmental disorder, and absent for more than two times from intervention sessions. All students were matched according to gender and age and randomly assigned to the experimental (seven boys and seven girls) and control group (eight boys and six girls).  The executive functions of all students were assessed by the Behavioral Ratings Inventory for Executive Functions (BRIEF). The experimental group individually participated in 12 sessions (twice a week; 30 to 45 minutes per session) and trained by the cognitive rehabilitation program. However, the control group only attended mainstream curriculum. Again, all students were assessed by the BRIEF at the last session and five weeks follow-up later. Data were analyzed by the using analysis of variance with repeated measures. Results: The findings showed that the cognitive rehabilitation program have significantly influenced on the executive functions and its components (behavior management and metacognition) in students with dyscalculia. According to eta quotient, the 42%, 32%, 43% of the variation of executive functions, behavior management and metacognition of the experimental group respectively has been explained by participating in cognitive rehabilitation program. In addition, the effectiveness of the program lasted for the five-week follow-up later. Conclusion: Considering the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation program on executive functions, we can conclude that designing and implementation of the same rehabilitative programs not only improve the executive functions of students with dyscalculia but also prevent their problems relating to learning academic skills.