Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

Background: Storytelling Therapy is a medium of communication between therapist and client. The communication is used as psychotherapy to influence the client to develop himself or herself in a way agreed upon between the therapist and client. Artfully practiced, Storytelling Therapy is difficult to be distinguished from ordinary conversation. More than a fireside chat, Storytelling Therapy draws upon the philosophy of diverse cultures and models of psychotherapy. This method synthesizes into an elegant psychotherapeutic procedure an interaction between client and therapist. This interaction evokes personal and psychological evolution within the client. The carefully crafted story activates the client's unconscious resources. Therapeutic gain is accomplished as the client identifies with the elements in the story and then embraces the desired outcomes. By virtue of this identification and the formation of healing internal visual and mental images, the client understands that things can work out for him or her. The present study aims at investigating the effectiveness of the fiction therapy strategy on decreasing spelling errors of students with spelling disorders in the first and second grades of primary schools in Yazd.

Material and Methods: In this study the testing procedure was used and the research population was all the students with spelling disorders in Yazd. After performing the diagnostic test (the Riven intelligence test for children and the Fallahchay’s spelling disorder test and the picture dictation test) by multi–stage cluster sampling, 20 female students with spelling disorders were selected randomly. Then, they were divided randomly into two groups, the experimental group and the control group. The examinees in experimental group were trained through fiction therapy strategy for 12 sessions (60 minutes for every session / twice a week), but the control group did not receive any intervention. The achieved data was analyzed by using the covariance statistical method and the chi–square method.

Results: The data, by using analysis of variance with frequently measurement, were analyzed.  The observed measurements analysis shows that there is difference between the two groups in the average pretest and posttest on the control and the follow-up, So that the number of spelling mistakes 11.22 (in the test) to number 4.11 (in the test) is reduced. (p<0.01, F=4.89)

For processing data collected in this study inferential statistics (Friedman test, nonparametric test, or ANOVA) was used. All calculations with the help of computer software SPSS version 19th edition, was conducted and the effect of therapy on students' stories was investigated: The results of applying analysis on the effectiveness of narrative therapy strategies, reduction of spelling errors in students with dysgraphia shows After adjusting for writing performance scores of students with analysis between experimental and control groups, there are significant differences.

The number of students in this research ten which cannot be considered a normal society. So, to compare the improvement or lack of improvement within one to twelve sessions Friedman non parametric tests, ANOVA is equivalent parametric test. Friedman non parametric test, equivalent measures analysis of variance within the group that it will use to compare the mean rank between K Group. In this test the null hypothesis based on the mean rank among the groups is the same.

Conclusions: It can be concluded that the fiction therapy strategy decreases the spelling errors of students with spelling disorders. According to the results of this study, it can be recommended to learning disorders coaches, consultants, and psychologists that try to improve the spelling of students with spelling disorders by applying these strategies.