Vol. 5, Issue 2, Part C (2019)

Background: Dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulty in reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words (decoding). Children with dyslexia show many emotional problems like anxiety, depression, aggression and social problems. Brain Gym exercises could be used to facilitate learning in a variety of academic areas such reading skills, oral reading, reading comprehension, memory and self-esteem.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine Effectiveness of Brain Gym Activity on Anxiety in Children with Dyslexia using Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (scared)-child Version and parent Version.

Methodology: Thirty participants between the age of 11 to 15 years with the diagnosis of dyslexia and having symptoms of anxiety were selected. Participants received Brain Gym Activity for 20 min per day for 3 days per week, for duration of 6 weeks. After that pre and post intervention assessments were done.

Result: Extremely significant difference was seen in pre and post scores scared-child Version and parent Version. Pre intervention and post intervention mean for scared-child Version was 28.5 (SD=8.984) and 21.21 (SD=6.822) and for the scared-parent Version was 26.60 (SD=7.062) and 20.82 (SD=6.487) respectively with p value <0.0001.

Conclusion: The children were showing anxiety on pre-assessment. The similar level of anxiety was observed by their parents. After receiving Brain Gym Activity as an intervention, their anxiety level reduced. So the Brain Gym Activity is an effective intervention to treat the symptoms of anxiety.