A scoping review of interventions used with individuals with dyslexia to improve their writing performance

Developmental dyslexia is the common term for the neurobiological disorder known as “Specific Learning Disorder in Reading” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5. It is believed that 14% of students in the United States of America have this diagnosis (Dyslexia Basics - International Dyslexia Association, n.d.). Dyslexia can significantly impact the academic, vocational, social, and emotional aspects of a person’s life, disrupting their meaningful engagement in occupations. Because dyslexia is a complex language disorder with multiple phenotypes and symptoms, no one profession can address all areas of difficulty. Occupational therapists are often brought into interdisciplinary teams in schools to support the writing of students with dyslexia. Historically occupational therapists have worked within a very limited scope, most commonly to address the individual prerequisite components of writing, such as visual motor and perceptual skills, fine motor skills, cognitive and executive function skills, and sensory processing skills (Grajo & Gutman, 2019.) Given the broad range of skills and practice scope that occupational therapists have, and in keeping with the current emphasis on top-down approaches and consideration of how literacy impacts the child's life role as a student, it is time for occupational therapists to consider best practice for occupational therapy interventions in supporting the occupation of transcription for students with dyslexia. Objective A scoping review with narrative synthesis was conducted to ascertain the strategies being used currently to improve the writing of students with dyslexia. The knowledge gained from the review was used to inform the overarching aim of this thesis: To guide occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists working under an interdisciplinary team model in supporting the occupation of transcription for students with dyslexia. Method Articles for this scoping review were identified through a computerized search of five electronic databases accessible by the Otago Polytechnic library: PubMed, ProQuest Central, Taylor and Francis, Cinahl, and ERIC. To ensure current and relevant information was considered, each article's date of publication was within ten years of the current year, 2010 - 2020. The literature search procedure was complimented by manually scanning the reference lists of retrieved articles. This identified two articles outside the inclusion dates. Because these articles were named in multiple reference lists, they were considered relevant and important to current thinking and thus included. Articles were evaluated according to predetermined criteria for inclusion at the title, abstract, and article levels. Seven articles were selected for review. Descriptive content analysis was used to map the current use of strategies and interventions. Results This scoping review identified that the strategy currently used and recommended to improve the writing of students with dyslexia is interdisciplinary team collaboration, including and prioritizing the student's family, individualizing, and providing explicit multi- component interventions. The necessity of understanding the language and interpretations of other professionals in the field in order to be an effective and respected team member was highlighted. The purpose of this review was to use the new knowledge to guide occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists working under an interdisciplinary team model in supporting the occupation of transcription for students with dyslexia. It is very clear from the findings that it is time for occupational therapists to reconsider their current roles and create the opportunity to increase their functional role in literacy. There is plenty of space in this complex field for occupational therapists to upskill and embrace literacy holistically while remaining within their scope of practice.