Back on track : remediating developmental dyslexia with a home-based multi-component program

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is associated with multiple cognitive deficits. This study
examined whether digital training of specific cognitive components is feasible and ef-
fective, whether parental involvement increases training intensity, and whether a multi-
component intervention yields specific and cumulative benefits for reading fluency, spell-
ing, and reading comprehension. We developed a multi-component digital intervention
targeting visual-attentional (VA), auditory-phonological (AP), and cross-modal processes.
In a pre-registered multiple single-case (within-subject) intervention study (ClinicalTrials.
gov : NCT04028310), 144 children with DD aged 8 to 13 years participated. The first two
training components (VA vs. AP) were counterbalanced across participants. Each training
phase lasted 2 months, with home-based practice 5 days per week for 15 min per session
under parental supervision. Before and after the digital intervention phases, children re-
ceived conventional remediation once per week for 2 months, serving as a within-subject
baseline. Training effects were component-specific : VA training led to greater improve-
ments in visual-attentional skills than AP training, whereas AP training yielded greater
gains in phoneme awareness than VA training. Across the full three-stage program, cumu-
lative improvements were observed in reading fluency, spelling, and reading comprehen-
sion that exceeded gains during conventional remediation alone. Starting with VA training
resulted in larger reading fluency gains than starting with AP training. These findings pro-
vide a proof of concept that a scalable, home-based, multi-component digital intervention
can induce specific cognitive improvements and cumulative gains in reading and spelling
skills in children with DD, while remaining feasible for large-scale implementation.