Efficacy of Berni: A software for preschoolers at risk of dyslexia

Abstract

The signs of dyslexia can appear as early as preschool. Teachers need effective and efficient programmes to overcome the difficulties these children face, making use of the available resources. The purpose of this study was to design an educational software that would enable effective intervention to improve the early difficulties of children at risk of dyslexia, and that a preschool teacher could apply in the classroom in an inclusive manner. Hence, the software named Berni was designed as an early intervention measure to overcome difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory, alphabetic awareness, receptive language and print awareness. The sample included 43 preschoolers aged 4 and 5 years old from 7 schools in the Basque Country (Spain), who showed warning signs of dyslexia. To evaluate the software, half of the participants used the Berni software in their regular classroom and a pre-test/intervention/post-test design was used with a control group. The results showed that multimedia training with the Berni programme helped to overcome difficulties in the variables that better predict dyslexia: phonological awareness, rapid automatised naming and verbal memory. Furthermore, teachers and children consider the Berni software to be perceptible, operable and adequately developed. Teachers consider it to be appropriate to the curriculum, effective and conducive to learning. However, autonomous use, feedback and adaptation possibilities could be improved.