Dore Programme

The Dore programme (or Dore program) according to its creator, businessman Wynford Dore, is an individualized program which aims to improve skills such as reading and writing, attention and focus, social skills and sports performance through targeted physical exercises.[1] According to the Dore website the programme consists of a series of exercises designed to improve the functioning of the cerebellum, due to its creator's belief that the cerebellum facilitates skill development and therefore plays an essential role in the learning process. The website claims that Dore has been used with individuals with dyslexia, ADHD, developmental coordination disorder, Asperger's, and other learning difficulties which has been developed with researchers in Britain and elsewhere, [2]

That validity of the program has been disputed. No conclusive study has been performed on the Dore Program which has met the criteria for a randomised controlled trial.[3][4] In May 2008 the predecessor to Dore, a company known as DDAT (Dyslexia Dyspraxia Attention Treatment), went into liquidation in the UK.[5] The Dore programme claims to have partnerships with school in four different states of the US.[6]

Origin

Dore, previously known as DDAT (Dyslexia Dyspraxia Attention Treatment), was initiated by businessman Wynford Dore for his daughter Susie who was diagnosed as severely dyslexic and became depressed and suicidal. After being told that there was no cure for dyslexia, Wynford began working with a team of researchers to investigate Harold Levinson's claim that the cerebellum is linked to the types of symptoms Susie was experiencing. Roy Rutherford, a friend of Wynford's, suggested that an underdeveloped cerebellum may be the cause of Susie's symptoms. The Dore programme was subsequently developed for Susie and, after she began to read and write, then made available to others.[7][8]

According to a video released by Dore, conditions such as dyslexia, developmental coordination disorder, ADD, Autism, Asperger syndrome and ADHD are linked to cerebellar function.[9] Dore Program Practitioners believe that it is possible to treat difficulties in areas such as reading, attention, coordination, and social skills by developing these neural pathways.[10]

The Dore method

The theory behind the Dore method is that skills such as reading and writing are learned through practice and become automatic because the cerebellum allows the learning process to occur at the maximum rate of efficiency. The Dore method alleges that, as skills become more automatic, the working memory required to perform a task decreases. The Dore Programme aims to stimulate the development of the cerebellum and hence to strengthen the communications between the cerebrum and cerebellum.[11]

Suitability

The Dore programme stipulates that clients must be 7 years of age or older. Dore suggests this because clients 6 and younger are more difficult to accurately assess. Adults of all ages are believed to be suitable for Dore.[12][13]

Dore Programme effectiveness

The effectiveness of the Dore Programme is disputed. The first study to evaluate the effectiveness of the Dore programme was published in Dyslexia in 2003, which reported improvements in writing, reading, and comprehension of 35 school-aged students at Balsall Common School in Warwickshire, UK on standardised testing.[14] Most of the study participants did not have any diagnosed learning difficulties: six had dyslexia, two had developmental coordination disorder and one had ADHD. Some of the remainder were identified as 'at risk' on the basis of the Dyslexia Screening Test, but the majority of children did not have severe difficulties. A follow-up to this study was published in Dyslexia in 2006, and, upon reevaluating the students, the authors report significant improvements in writing, reading, and comprehension, as well as ADHD attention skills.[3]

Studies on efficacy with the target clinical groups have yet to be replicated in a peer-reviewed medical journal, and where control data are available, the evidence of gains in literacy associated with the Dore programme needs to be further validated.[4][14]

Research

Of the treatment

The Dore Programme treatment has been studied and continues to be the subject of further research.[15][16] The study by Reynolds et al.[14] has been challenged. For example, a control group was included only for a subset of assessments, and not for follow up; little information was provided on the test scores or treatment status of children in the experimental group who were not followed up.[17][18][19] The two authors of the research defended it as showing significant and maintained gains in coordination after treatment.[20] A number of papers published in the British Dyslexia Association's journal have found the apparently independent academic research Dore initially offered in support of the treatment to be the subject of some debate. According to an article published in the Times Educational Supplement in 2004, many of Britain's foremost academics maintain that the results need to be replicated.[21]

Into early claims

The UK's Independent Television Commission and Ofcom upheld complaints made about a 2002 news item on British television in which Sir Trevor McDonald hailed DDAT as a "breakthrough in the treatment of dyslexia." It repeated this decision about a later item on Richard & Judy, and found a television commercial made by DDAT to be in breach of Advertising Standards Code Rules for creating a false impression of the medical evidence, and implying that professional medical advice and support would be part of the treatment. In all these cases, however, they stated that: "the ITC does not express, nor does it seek to express, any view whatsoever on DDAT as an organisation or the relative efficacy of its treatment for dyslexia, neither of which was the subject of this finding."[22] The complaints were mainly about claims that this was new and pioneering research when many elements date back to at least 30 years before the DDAT was founded.[23]

Controversy

After the British journal Dyslexia published one paper about the Dore programme in 2003,[14] the paper was followed by ten critical commentaries[24] and one commentator resigned from Dyslexia's editorial board. In 2006, five members of the board of directors resigned in protest of the publication of a follow-up article highly favorable of Dore, citing concerns about the methodology used in the study and financial conflicts of interest due to Dore's involvement in funding the research.[25][26] The editor of Dyslexia defended the decision to publish,[27] and the authors of the original Dore research paper responded vigorously to these criticisms and continued to support their findings and conclusions.[28]

Advertising Standards Authority rules against Dore

In December 2009, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ordered Dore to take down advertisements it posted via Google links that claimed the program offered help for dyslexia, Asperger syndrome, and ADHD developmental coordination disorder. Dore attempted to defend the ads by citing two studies supporting its claims, but the ASA ruled that the advertisements' claims were unsupported by the studies and were misleading.[29]

Financial history

In May 2008 the DDAT company went into liquidation in the UK.[5] On 23 January 2009, Dynevor Ltd acquired the intellectual property rights and the assets of the Dore programme from Wynford Dore and CDT Ltd.[30][31]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Dore, USA. "Dore USA website". Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ↑ "The cause of learning difficulties". Dore Official Website. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  3. 1 2 Reynolds D, Nicolson RI. (May 2007). "Follow-up of an exercise-based treatment for children with reading difficulties.". Dyslexia. 13 13 (2): 78–96. doi:10.1002/dys.331. PMID 17557685.
  4. 1 2 Bishop DV (2007). "Curing dyslexia and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder by training motor co-ordination: miracle or myth?". J Paediatr Child Health 43 (10): 653–5. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1754.2007.01225.x. PMC 2835859. PMID 17854448.
  5. 1 2 Hawkes N (2008-05-29). "Millionaire Wynford Dore pulls plug on his dyslexia cure". The Times (London). Retrieved 2008-11-13.
  6. ↑ Dore, USA. "Dore USA website schools page". Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  7. ↑ Scott, Caroline (March 5, 2006). "Wynford Dore and his daughter Susie". The Times. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  8. ↑ Dore, W (2006). Dyslexia: the miracle cure. London: John Blake Publishing.
  9. ↑ Yeager, Mark. "Dore Program Offers Hope for Those Struggling with ADHD, Dyslexia and Other Learning Disabilities". Dore Program YouTube Video. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  10. ↑ Yeager, Mark. "A Student's Success Coping With Attention Deficit Disorder Brings Dore to a Mississippi School". YouTube Public Video. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  11. ↑ Dore, USA. "Dore USA website science explained". Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  12. ↑ Albritton, Jim. "A Mississippi Author with Attention Deficit Disorder is Writing Again Thanks to the Dore Program". doreprogram. YouTube. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  13. ↑ "Who is Dore for?". Your questions answered... Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Reynolds, D; Nicolson, R.I.; Hambly, H (August 2003). "Evaluation of an exercise-based treatment for children with reading difficulties". Dyslexia. 9 9 (3): 164–176. doi:10.1002/dys.257. PMID 12940300.
  15. ↑ "Ongoing Studies". Dore Research. dore.co.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  16. ↑ Bishop DV. "Evaluating alternative solutions for dyslexia". dysTalk. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  17. ↑ Bishop DV (2007). "Curing dyslexia and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder by training motor co-ordination: miracle or myth?". J Paediatr Child Health 43 (10): 653–5. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1754.2007.01225.x. PMC 2835859. PMID 17854448.
  18. ↑ Bishop DV (2008). "Criteria for evaluating behavioural interventions for neurodevelopmental disorders". J Paediatr Child Health 44 (9): 520–1. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1754.2008.01358.x. PMID 18928470.
  19. ↑ http://www.mentalhealthwatch.org/reports/dore2.shtml
  20. ↑ Reynolds D, Nicolson R (2008). "Comment on 'Curing dyslexia and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder by training motor co-ordination: miracle or myth?'". J Paediatr Child Health 44 (9): 521–2. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1754.2008.01359.x. PMID 18928471.
  21. ↑ Gold K (2004-07-02). "A remedy without rigour?". Times Educational Supplement. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  22. ↑ Chris Tregenza (2004-07-06). "TV Complaints Upheld About DDAT". Myomancy.
  23. ↑ Revell, Phil (07-16-02). "Balancing act". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-05-01. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ↑ Critical commentaries of Reynolds et al. 2003:
  25. ↑ Swinford S (2006-11-26). "Scientists quit in dyslexia ‘cure‘ row". Sunday Times (London). Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  26. ↑ http://www.mentalhealthwatch.org/reports/dore
  27. ↑ EL(3)-09-07 : Paper 2 : Evidence to the Committee on Dyslexia Support in Wales - Professor Angela Fawcett - Director of the Centre for Child Research, Swansea University
  28. ↑
    • Nicolson; Reynolds, David (2003). "Science, Sense and Syngergy:Response to Commentators article". Dyslexia 9 (2): 167–176. doi:10.1002/dys.261.*Nicolson R, Reynolds D (2007). "Sound Design and balanced Analyses:Response to Rack and colleauges". Dyslexia 13: 105–109. doi:10.1002/dys.337.
  29. ↑ ASA ruling on Dore advertisements:
  30. ↑ "Couple lost £3,000 after Kenilworth firm went into administration". Kenilworth Weekly News. 2009-01-29. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  31. ↑ "About Dore & Dynevor". Dore Official Website. Retrieved 8 April 2011.

External links

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