Molecular Genetics of Dyslexia: An Overview
Dyslexia is a highly heritable learning disorder with a complex underlying genetic architecture. Over the past decade, researchers have pinpointed a number of candidate genes that may contribute to dyslexia susceptibility. Here, we provide an overview of the state of the art, describing how studies have moved from mapping potential risk loci, through identification of associated gene variants, to characterization of gene function in cellular and animal model systems. Work thus far has highlighted some intriguing mechanistic pathways, such as neuronal migration, axon guidance, and ciliary biology, but it is clear that we st...
Source: Dyslexia - October 17, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Amaia Carrion‐Castillo, Barbara Franke, Simon E. Fisher Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Precursors of Developmental Dyslexia: An Overview of the Longitudinal Dutch Dyslexia Programme Study
Converging evidence suggests that developmental dyslexia is a neurobiological disorder, characterized by deficits in the auditory, visual, and linguistic domains. In the longitudinal project of the Dutch Dyslexia Programme, 180 children with a familial risk of dyslexia (FR) and a comparison group of 120 children without FR (noFR) were followed from the age of 2 months up to 9 years. Children were assessed on (1) auditory, speech, and visual event‐related potentials every half year between 2 and 41 months; (2) expressive and receptive language, motor development, behaviour problems, and home‐literacy environment b...
Source: Dyslexia - October 17, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Aryan Leij, Elsje Bergen, Titia Zuijen, Peter Jong, Natasha Maurits, Ben Maassen Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Dutch Dyslexia Programme
(Source: Dyslexia)
Source: Dyslexia - October 17, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Aryan Leij, Ben Maassen Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
A new procedure to measure children's reading speed and accuracy in Italian
In this study, we propose a new screening procedure measuring reading speed and accuracy. This procedure is very fast (it is exactly 1 min long), simple, cheap and can be provided by teachers without technical knowledge. On the contrary, most of the currently used diagnostic tests are about 10 min long and must be provided by experts. These two major flaws prevent the widespread use of these tests. On the basis of the results obtained in a survey on about 1500 students attending primary school in Italy, we investigate the relationships between variables used in the screening procedure and variables measuring speed and ...
Source: Dyslexia - September 30, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Isabella Morlini, Giacomo Stella, Maristella Scorza Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Lexical and Phonological Processes in Dyslexic Readers: Evidence from a Visual Lexical Decision Task
The aim of the present study was to investigate whether reading failure in the context of an orthography of intermediate consistency is linked to inefficient use of the lexical orthographic reading procedure. The performance of typically developing and dyslexic Portuguese‐speaking children was examined in a lexical decision task, where the stimulus lexicality, word frequency and length were manipulated. Both lexicality and length effects were larger in the dyslexic group than in controls, although the interaction between group and frequency disappeared when the data were transformed to control for general performance fac...
Source: Dyslexia - August 1, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Susana Araújo, Luís Faísca, Inês Bramão, Karl Magnus Petersson, Alexandra Reis Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
What Do Preservice Teachers from the USA and the UK Know about Dyslexia?
The purpose of the study was to examine the knowledge base of preservice teachers from the USA and the UK of dyslexia as a language‐based learning disability. A survey (both US and UK versions) was constructed using current research‐based understandings of dyslexia as a language‐based learning disability. One hundred and one preservice teachers from the USA and 70 preservice teachers from the UK were administered the survey. Results indicated that participants in the two groups demonstrated some similar accurate knowledge about dyslexia as well as displaying some common misunderstandings about dyslexia. Recommendatio...
Source: Dyslexia - August 1, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Erin K. Washburn, Emily S. Binks‐Cantrell, R. Malatesha Joshi Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research
Weaknesses in Semantic, Syntactic and Oral Language Expression Contribute to Reading Difficulties in Chinese Dyslexic Children
The present study examined the role of weaknesses in some language skills for the reading difficulties among Chinese dyslexic children. Thirty Chinese dyslexic children were compared with 30 chronological age (CA) controls and 30 reading‐level (RL) controls on a number of language and reading measures. The results showed that Chinese dyslexic children performed significantly worse than the CA controls but similarly to the RL controls in many of the linguistic measures except that the dyslexic group also performed significantly less well than the RL group in semantic skills and syntactic skills on multiple modifiers. The ...
Source: Dyslexia - August 1, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Xiao‐Yun Xiao, Connie Suk‐Han Ho Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
A View of Dyslexia in Context: Implications for Understanding Differences in Essay Writing Experience Amongst Higher Education Students Identified as Dyslexic
This article applies socio‐cultural theories to explore how differences in essay writing experience are constituted for a group of students identified as dyslexic. It reports on a qualitative study with eleven student writers, seven of whom are formally identified as dyslexic, from the schools of archaeology, history and philosophy in a ‘traditional’ UK university. Semi‐structured interviews before, during and after writing a coursework essay revealed well‐documented dyslexia‐related difficulties and also strong differences in how writing was experienced. The multiple and fluid dimensions that construct these d...
Source: Dyslexia - June 18, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Christine Carter, Edward Sellman Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Writing in Dyslexia: Product and Process
Research on dyslexia has largely centred on reading. The aim of this study was to assess the writing of 13 children with and 28 without dyslexia at age 11 years. A programme for keystroke logging was used to allow recording of typing activity as the children performed a sentence dictation task. Five sentences were read aloud twice each. The task was to type the sentence as correctly as possible, with no time constraints. The data were analysed from a product (spelling, grammar and semantics) and process (transcription fluency and revisions) perspective, using repeated measures ANOVA and t‐tests to investigate group dif...
Source: Dyslexia - May 29, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Frøydis Morken, Turid Helland Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Morphological Processing in Reading Disabled and Skilled Spanish Children
This article presents the results of a lexical decision experiment in which the base frequency (BF) effect is explored in reading disabled children and skilled readers. Three groups of participants were created. The first group was composed of children with reading disorders, the second group of skilled readers matched with the first group for chronological age and the third group of skilled readers matched for vocabulary size. The results of the experiment showed strong effects for Group, BF and also for the Group by BF interaction. Children matched for chronological age with children with reading disorders were significa...
Source: Dyslexia - May 1, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Miguel Lázaro, Lourdes Camacho, Cristina Burani Tags: Short Report Source Type: research
Italian Children with Dyslexia are also Poor in Reading English Words, but Accurate in Reading English Pseudowords
It has been argued that children with dyslexia (DC) are poor at learning a foreign language (L2) and, in particular, reading foreign words. This assumption is so general that an Italian law (law 170, October, 2010) has established that DC may be completely exempted from foreign language learning and, in any case, should not be engaged in tuition via written material. However, evidence of L2 difficulties of DC is scarce and, in particular, absent for Italian children learning English. This absence of data is problematic, as it precludes information on the pattern of weaknesses and strengths, which could be found in DC. The ...
Source: Dyslexia - May 1, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Paola Palladino, Isabella Bellagamba, Marcella Ferrari, Cesare Cornoldi Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Spatial Orienting of Attention in Dyslexic Adults using Directional and Alphabetic Cues
Spatial attention performance was investigated in adults with dyslexia. Groups with and without dyslexia completed literacy/phonological tasks as well as two spatial cueing tasks, in which attention was oriented in response to a centrally presented pictorial (arrow) or alphabetic (letter) cue. Cued response times and orienting effects were largely similar in dyslexic and nonimpaired readers. The one distinct pattern that emerged showed dyslexic adults to have smaller orienting effects in the right than left visual field for letter cues, whereas typical readers showed the opposite pattern. These smaller orienting effects ap...
Source: Dyslexia - April 13, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Jeannie Judge, Paul C. Knox, Markéta Caravolas Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
The Spelling Skills of French‐Speaking Dyslexic Children
Learning to spell is very difficult for dyslexic children, a phenomenon explained by a deficit in processing phonological information. However, to spell correctly in an alphabetic language such as French, phonological knowledge is not enough. Indeed, the French written system requires the speller to acquire visuo‐orthographical and morphological knowledge as well. To date, the majority of studies aimed at describing dyslexic children's spelling abilities related to English and reading.
The general goal of this study is to describe the spelling performance, from an explanatory perspective, of 26 French‐Canadian dyslexic...
Source: Dyslexia - April 11, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Anne Plisson, Daniel Daigle, Isabelle Montésinos‐Gelet Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Coping Successfully with Dyslexia: An Initial Study of an Inclusive School‐Based Resilience Programme
A dyslexia coping programme entitled Success and Dyslexia was implemented in two primary schools within a whole‐class coping programme and whole‐school dyslexia professional development context. One hundred and two year 6 students, 23 of whom had dyslexia, undertook surveys pretest, post‐test and at 1‐year follow‐up. Effectiveness of the coping programme and maintenance of effects for the students after transition to secondary school were investigated. Inclusion of contrast group data in the follow‐up year suggested significant positive changes at first and second follow‐ups in locus of control and nonproduct...
Source: Dyslexia - March 21, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Nola Firth, Erica Frydenberg, Charlotte Steeg, Lyndal Bond Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Native and Novel Language Prosodic Sensitivity in English‐Speaking Children with and without Dyslexia
Children with reading disability and normal reading development were compared in their ability to discriminate native (English) and novel language (Mandarin) from nonlinguistic sounds. Children's preference for native versus novel language sounds and for disyllables containing dominant trochaic versus non‐dominant iambic stress patterns was also assessed. Participants included second and third grade monolingual native English speakers with reading disability (N = 18) and normal reading development (N = 18). Children selected from pairs of novel, native, and nonlinguistic sounds that was more like language. Both g...
Source: Dyslexia - February 1, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Alida Anderson, Candise Y. Lin, Min Wang Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
