Psychological assessment and dyslexia: parents’ perspectives

The purpose of this paper is to explore parents’ perceptions of the process of having their child assessed for dyslexia by an independent Educational Psychologist and the affective impact on the child or young person. The research was carried out as part of an evaluation of the services offered by the Northern Ireland Dyslexia Centre (NIDC). The methodology involved the use of a postal survey questionnaire with both qualitative and quantitative outcomes. Findings are discussed in the context of strategies for promoting partnerships with parents and affective-academic pathways for learners with dyslexia.     

Is season of birth related to developmental dyslexia?

Different moderators/mediators of risk are involved in developmental dyslexia (DD), but data are inconsistent. We explored the prevalence of season of birth and its association with gender and age of school entry in an Italian sample of dyslexic children compared to an Italian normal control group. The clinical sample included 498 children (345 boys, mean age 10.3 ± 2.1 years) with DD, the control sample 1,276 children (658 boys, mean age 10.8 ± 2.2 years) from four elementary schools from the same urban area, and with the same socio-economic status level. A prevalence of birth in autumn was found among children with DD compared to controls (34% versus 24%, p < 0.0001). Children with DD were more frequently males (p < 0.0001) and had a lower mean age of school entry (p < 0.0001). Regarding the distribution of ages, 11.4% of children with DD, but none of the subjects in the control group, started school before 5.7 years. Therefore, greater risk of DD was related to age of school entry (OR = 2.72), gender (OR = 2.16), and season of birth (OR = 1.21). Significant interactions between boys with DD born in autumn, and correct school of entry (OR = 2.56) were joint predictors of higher risk of DD. The association between birth in autumn and DD may be explained by the earlier age of school entry, which may be a critical element in the youngest children with DD or at risk to DD. Whether Italian school policy is oriented to anticipate the school entry, a closer detection of early learning disorders and associated risk factors (familial load, specific language disorders, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) should be warranted.     

Developmental dyslexia: Related to specific or general deficits?

The present study was designed to examine the question of whether developmental dyslexia in 12-year-old students at the beginning of secondary education in the Netherlands is confined to problems in the domain of reading and spelling or also is related to difficulties in other areas. In particular, hypotheses derived from theories on phonological processing, rapid automatized naming, working memory, and automatization of skills were tested. To overcome the definition and selection problems of many previous studies, we included in our study all students in the first year of secondary special education in a Dutch school district. Participants were classified as either dyslexic, garden-variety, or hyperlexic poor readers, according to the degree of discrepancy between their word recognition and listening comprehension scores. In addition, groups of normal readers were formed, matching the poor readers in either reading age or chronological age. A large test battery was administered to each student, including phonological, naming, working memory, speed of processing, and motor tests. The findings indicate that dyslexia is associated with deficits in (1) phonological recoding, word recognition (both in their native Dutch and in English as a second language), and spelling skills; and (2) naming speed for letters and digits. Dyslexia was not associated with deficits in other areas. The results suggest that developmental dyslexia, at the age of 12, might be (or might have become) a difficulty rather isolated from deficiencies in other cognitive and motor skills.     

What can reduce letter migrations in letter position dyslexia?

Letter position dyslexia (LPD) is a peripheral dyslexia that causes errors of letter position within words, such as reading cloud as could. In this study, we assessed the effect of various display manipulations and reading methods on the reading of 10 Hebrew readers with developmental LPD. These manipulations included tracking the letters with the index finger, spacing of two or six spaces between letters, presenting each letter in a different colour and inserting a sign between letters. We also tested the effect of diacritic markers, which provide disambiguating phonological information. Several display manipulations reduced the rate of letter migrations, and finger tracking was the most efficient technique. Diacritic markers were either ignored or made reading even more difficult. These findings indicate that LPD is treatable, and that the technique that is the easiest to apply, finger tracking, is also the most promising one in reducing letter migrations in LPD.     

Teaching children with dyslexia to spell in a reading-writers’ workshop

To identify effective treatment for both the spelling and word decoding problems in dyslexia, 24 students with dyslexia in grades 4 to 9 were randomly assigned to treatments A (n?=?12) or B (n?=?12) in an after-school reading-writers’ workshop at the university (thirty 1-h sessions twice a week over 5 months). First, both groups received step 1 treatment of grapheme–phoneme correspondences (gpc) for oral reading. At step 2, treatment A received gpc training for both oral reading and spelling, and treatment B received gpc training for oral reading and phonological awareness. At step 3, treatment A received orthographic spelling strategy and rapid accelerated reading program (RAP) training, and treatment B continued step 2 training. At step 4, treatment A received morphological strategies and RAP training, and treatment B received orthographic spelling strategy training. Each treatment also had the same integrated reading–writing activities, which many school assignments require. Both groups improved significantly in automatic letter writing, spelling real words, compositional fluency, and oral reading (decoding) rate. Treatment A significantly outperformed treatment B in decoding rate after step 3 orthographic training, which in turn uniquely predicted spelling real words. Letter processing rate increased during step 3 RAP training and correlated significantly with two silent reading fluency measures. Adding orthographic strategies with “working memory in mind” to phonics helps students with dyslexia spell and read English words.     

Neuropsychological treatment of dyslexia: does type of treatment matter?

In this study, 123 children with a diagnosis of developmental dyslexia were assigned to different treatment groups, either variations of Bakker's intervention program based on the balance model or a control, a specific reading training group. Thorough cognitive and neuropsychological assessment allowed determination of the subtype of dyslexia according to the balance model and the neuropsychological profile with respect to reading and spelling abilities, verbal memory, and phonemic awareness. Characteristics of hemisphere-specific stimulation were systematically manipulated in an effort to shed light on the bases and mechanisms of reading improvement. It was shown that the effects of treatment vary according to type of dyslexia and that the different intervention programs have differential effects on reading-related neuropsychological functions. Since opposite effects can be produced by the same type of treatment in different dyslexia subtypes, the results of the study suggest that accurate classification of subtype on the base of reading and reading-related variables is advantageous for an optimal planning of the therapy.     

How do teachers in Ireland and England conceptualise dyslexia?

This paper presents the findings of a comparative study using data from questionnaire surveys carried out in England (n=57) and Ireland (n=72). The researchers examine how teachers and teaching assistants who are currently teaching pupils with dyslexia in primary schools describe dyslexia and what may have influenced their conceptualisation. The paper examines teachers' responses both in terms of how they view their pupils presenting difficulties in the classroom, and how far they link these to underlying differences in cognitive processing. The researchers suggest ways in which this might influence their teaching in terms of methodology. Findings have been mapped to the Morton and Frith causal modelling framework. The implications of these findings for the training and support of teachers are discussed in the light of recent national initiatives to improve the teaching of dyslexic pupils in both countries.     

Visuospatial superiority in developmental dyslexia: Myth or reality?

Anecdotal evidence indicates that dyslexia is positively associated with superior visuospatial ability but empirical evidence is inconsistent. We explicitly tested the hypothesis that dyslexia is associated with visuospatial advantage in 20 dyslexic and 21 unimpaired adult readers using paper-and-pencil measures and tests of 'everyday' visuospatial ability. We found no main effect of group on visuospatial task performance but did observe a series of significant sex × group interactions. Relative to dyslexic and unimpaired women, dyslexic men were significantly better at identifying shapes in ambiguous figures, reproducing complex figures, reproducing designs using coloured blocks, and recalling the direction of the Queen's head on a postage stamp. They were also significantly faster and more accurate than unimpaired men at navigating and recreating a virtual environment. These data suggest that visuospatial advantage in dyslexia may be confined to men. Possible explanations for this are discussed.     

Services for children with dyslexia – the child’s experience

This study evaluates and compares special educational services for children with dyslexia in three different Irish educational settings: special schools, reading units and mainstream resource provision. The emphasis is on the child’s experience of special education. Participants were dyslexic children aged 8–13 who had been accessing special educational services for two academic years. Data collection involved individual interviews with each of the 100 children. Further data about the child’s experience were collected by parental questionnaire. Results suggested that while children overall were happy and evaluated special educational services positively across all three settings, children in special schools and reading units seemed to be happier and to have more positive experiences than children attending mainstream resource provision. The discussion considers the implications of these findings in the context of the inclusion debate in special education. It also considers the limitations of this small‐scale study and the need for further research.     

What do teachers know about dyslexia? It’s complicated!

Reading and Writing - In recent years, many states have passed laws requiring dyslexia training for teachers. Research suggests teachers hold both scientifically-based conceptions as well as...     

Adult developmental dyslexia in a shallow orthography: Are there subgroups?

The existence and stability of subgroups among adult dyslexic readers of a shallow orthography was explored by comparing three different cluster analyses based on previously suggested combinations of two variables. These were oral reading speed versus accuracy, word versus pseudoword reading speed, and phonological awareness versus rapid naming. The three analyses were conducted with the same group of dyslexic adults. Each analysis produced three subgroups, corresponding to ones previously suggested in the literature. However, the subgroups had only little overlap from one analysis to another. Each clustering produced somewhat different subgroup profiles in phonological processing, reading, intelligence, temporal acuity, and sensory short-term memory. However, the shared difficulties of the solutions in several language-related and sensory tasks suggest the conclusion that developmental dyslexia does not causally consist of subgroups, at least in shallow orthographies. Further, the shared sensory difficulties suggest that impaired temporal acuity and sensory short-term memory may reflect the severity of a primary disorder that dyslexic readers cannot compensate by strategies.     

Handwriting production in Spanish children with dyslexia: spelling or motor difficulties?

Reading and Writing - Spelling and handwriting are different processes; however, they are learned simultaneously, and numerous studies have shown that they interact. Besides the commonly reported...     

Kindergarten prevention of dyslexia: does training in phonological awareness work for everybody?

This study examined the effects of training in phonological awareness on kindergarten children. Comparisons of children at risk (i.e., children with initially low levels of metalinguistic ability) with initially average and advanced children revealed that training gains were similar for all of these groups. Furthermore, training had comparable long-term effects on reading and spelling in Grades 1 and 2 for each group. In fact, the trained children at risk showed better reading and spelling performance than a randomly selected control group. Although considerable individual differences in training effectiveness were found Within the group of at-risk children, there was clear evidence that the training program substantially reduced the risk of becoming dyslexic in school.     

Identifying and remediating dyslexia in the Reception year,a new possibility?

Research has shown that dyslexics have an inability to establish sound‐symbol correspondence, phonological awareness and alphabetic knowledge by the normal teaching methods used in schools. In new research with Reception year children, ages 4 and 5 years, it was found that 90 per cent on entry to 8 Reception classes had not established sound to symbol correspondence. Five months later, despite the normal daily teaching of reading and writing skills, one third of children had still not ‘cracked the alphabetic code’. Reports were sent to the teachers identifying each child's level of skill in handwriting and spelling with suggestions for specific interventions to promote the learning of sounds and their symbols. On entry into Year 2, in a 10 minute writing test, it was found that all the shildren had now developed sound‐symbol knowledge. At the end of Key Stage 1 the national SATs results showed that the disadvantaged groups in the project schools had raised their performance by 30 per cent in literacy above previous years and the already high perfoorming group had improved by 10 per cent. One dyslexic was identified in the Year 2 test by a need for word‐building teaching.     

The impact of adolescents’ dyslexia on parents’ and their own educational expectations

The present study examined the role that adolescents’ dyslexia plays in their educational expectations, as well as their parents’ expectations concerning their offspring’s future education. To investigate this, 170 adolescents were asked to report their educational expectations on two occasions while they were still attending comprehensive school (in 7th and 9th grade). Forty-five of the 170 adolescents were diagnosed as having dyslexia. The adolescents’ mothers and fathers also filled in questionnaires concerning their educational expectations for their offspring. The results showed that parents of boys with dyslexia had lower expectations about their sons’ future education than parents of typically reading boys. However, parents of girls with dyslexia and parents of typically reading girls did not differ in this respect. Parents’ expectations also predicted the adolescents’ own educational expectations. Moreover, dyslexia was associated with boys’ academic achievement (GPA), which further predicted their educational expectations.     

How do the spellings of children with dyslexia compare with those of nondyslexic children?

Children with dyslexia are believed to have very poor phonological skills for which they compensate, to some extent, through relatively well-developed knowledge of letter patterns. We tested this view in Study 1 by comparing 25 dyslexic children and 25 younger normal children, chosen so that both groups performed, on average, at a second-grade spelling level. Phonological skill was assessed using phoneme counting and nonword spelling tasks. Knowledge of legal and illegal letter patterns was tested using a spelling choice task. The dyslexic children and the younger nondyslexic children performed similarly on all the tasks, and they had difficulty, for the most part, with the same linguistic structures. Supporting the idea that older dyslexics spellings are quite similar to those of typical beginners, we found in Study 2 that experienced teachers could not differentiate between the two groups based on their spellings.     

Are there delays in reporting dyslexia in university learners? Experiences of university learning support staff

The number of students entering higher education in the UK has increased over the last few years due to the previous Labour Government directives to widen participation to a range of socially disadvantaged and/or under-represented groups. Dyslexic students form the largest single group of minority students currently entering higher education. However, there are ongoing challenges in identifying and supporting dyslexic students as there no obligation for students to report specific learning needs before or after they enter higher education. In order to cast more light on this ongoing issue, a small-scale educational research study was undertaken in December 2012 to investigate whether there may be delays in the reporting of dyslexia in learners once they commence higher educational study. The day-to-day working experiences of four support staff based at a learning services department in one UK university were explored. Methodology involved adopting a qualitative exploratory design using digitally recorded semi-structured interviews and a snowball sample. Interview data was analysed using thematic analysis. The key findings of the study indicated that dyslexia was more likely to be reported in the second and third year of a student’s higher educational journey. Further analysis of the study findings indicated a myriad of reasons for delayed or late reporting of dyslexia. Such reasons included maintaining of a non-disabled student identity, financial and/or time constraints or consciously and strategically deciding when to disclose dyslexia to improve final degree classifications. A number of further recommendations are made to enhance inclusive learning and teaching practices.     

Inflectional morphology and dyslexia: Italian children’s performance in a nonword pluralization task

In this study, we present the results of an original experimental protocol designed to assess the performance in a pluralization task of 52 Italian children divided into two groups: 24 children with developmental dyslexia (mean age 10.0 years old) and 28 typically developing children (mean age 9.11 years old). Our task, inspired by Berko’s Wug Test, had the aim of testing the subjects’ ability to apply pluralization rules to nonwords in the morphologically complex context of Italian nominal inflection. Results demonstrate that dyslexics display poorer morphological skills in comparison to controls, showing lower accuracy in the task. Furthermore, the dissimilar performances reported by the subjects in the different conditions indicate that the ability to inflect nonwords depends on factors such as the rule’s productivity, frequency, and opacity with respect to gender. Finally, the children’s performance in this task was significantly related to their reading proficiency, and it could predict accuracy in word reading independently of phonological awareness and working memory.     

ASR technology for children with dyslexia： Enabling immediate intervention to support reading in Bahasa Melayu

Reading is an essential skill towards literacy development, and should be provided so that children can master the skill at their early ages. For dyslexic children, mastering the skill is a challenge. It has been widely agreed that the theory behind such difficulties in reading for dyslexic lies in the phonological-core deficits. Support has been given in many ways to dyslexic children to teach them reading through using various multi-sensory methods and using computer-based applications that include animated characters and text-to-speech （TTS） technology. In such applications, although stimulating, it requires the children to call for help by clicking on the custom-made buttons on the computer screen, often, such an application requires the dyslexic children to be aware of their mistakes and be able to judge when help is needed. They are just reluctant to ask the computer for help. Hence, such technology does not provide immediate intervention to correct any reading failure. It is therefore worth to look at the promising automatic speech recognition （ASR） technology to provide such intervention. Hence, this paper gives an overview of the use of ASR to facilitate immediate reading intervention which is the key element of remediating reading among dyslexic children. For such intervention to work, data on reading mistakes and patterns are observed and collected in audio format. The data serve as training and testing samples for an ASR to train on. An observation was carried out in two public schools participated in the study to record dyslexic children＇s reading in Bahasa Melayu （BM） and observe error patterns and their behaviors toward reading. A total of 10 dyslexic children are involved and a total of 6384 utterances from a set of selected words have been gathered and analyzed. Data are grouped into error type categories and the analysis performed gives ＂vowel substitution＂ as the most frequent error made （20%）. The significant findings can be of interest of special education teachers or parents to devise and use suitable approach to correct reading mistakes often made by dyslexic children. The findings also contribute to the development of a suitable and well-tuned ASR model focusing on dyslexic children reading aloud in BM.     

Phonemic—Morphemic dissociation in university students with dyslexia: an index of reading compensation?

A phonological deficit constitutes a primary cause of developmental dyslexia, which persists into adulthood and can explain some aspects of their reading impairment. Nevertheless, some dyslexic adults successfully manage to study at university level, although very little is currently known about how they achieve this. The present study investigated at both the individual and group levels, whether the development of another oral language skill, namely, morphological knowledge, can be preserved and dissociated from the development of phonological knowledge. Reading, phonological, and morphological abilities were measured in 20 dyslexic and 20 non-dyslexic university students. The results confirmed the persistence of deficits in phonological but not morphological abilities, thereby revealing a dissociation in the development of these two skills. Moreover, the magnitude of the dissociation correlated with reading level. The outcome supports the claim that university students with dyslexia may compensate for phonological weaknesses by drawing on morphological knowledge in reading.