Differential prognosis of reading-disabled children as a function of gender,socieconomic status,IQ, and severity: A longitudinal study

Data from 104 reading-disabled subjects tested on two occasions over an average interval of nearly five years were used to test hypotheses of differential prognosis for reading performance and symbol-processing speed as a function of gender, socioeconomic status, general intelligence, and initial severity. With respect to reading performance, significant main effects due to intelligence and severity were found. Moreover, the interaction between initial severity and test occasion was significant for reading performance due to a greater rate of improvement for the more severely disabled subjects. No evidence was obtained, however, for differential developmental rates as a unction of gender, socioeconomic status, or intelligence for this measure. With regard to symbol-processing speed, significant main effects were found due to gender, intelligence, and severity, whereas developmental rates were found to differ as a function of gender and socioeconomic status.