Reading, writing, and remediation: Perspectives on the dyslexic learning disability from remedial outcome data

This article addresses the problem of what constitutes effective remediation for developmental dyslexia, combining neuropsychological and applied cognitive perspectives on specific reading disability. Despite its high prevalence, whether the disorder is amenable to treatment and what constitutes effective treatment were questions which, until recently, remained essentially unaddressed by properly controlled evaluation studies. Positive results from controlled remediation studies and experimental training paradigms with disabled and poor reader samples are reviewed. As part of a clinical research program at The Hospital For Sick Children in Toronto, we have completed a series of treatment outcome studies with dyslexic samples (cumulative N = 285) in which we evaluated the efficacy of different programs designed to remediate the reading and reading-related deficits of dyslexic children and adolescents. Results from one of these studies are summarized to illustrate the unique perspective afforded through remedial outcome data: Emphasis is placed on what the results of such studies may reveal of dyslexic learning disabilities.