Abstract
We followed children at family risk of dyslexia and children with preschool language difficulties from age 3½, comparing them with controls (N = 234). At age 8, children were classified as having dyslexia or Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and compared at earlier time points with controls. Children with dyslexia have specific difficulties with phonology and emergent reading skills in the preschool period, whereas children with DLD, with or without dyslexia, show a wider range of impairments including significant problems with executive and motor tasks. For children with both dyslexia and DLD, difficulties with phonology are generally more severe than those observed in children with dyslexia or DLD alone. Findings confirm that poor phonology is the major cognitive risk factor for dyslexia.
Highlights
We followed children at family risk of dyslexia and children with preschool language difficulties from age 31⁄2, comparing them with controls (N = 234)
We first report the outcomes of the children in the study recruited to be at high risk of dyslexia compared with controls and discuss the associated risk factors
Using a large longitudinal data set, the present study extends previous research by showing that phonological deficits are shared risk factors for dyslexia and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)
Summary
Children with dyslexia have specific difficulties with phonology and emergent reading skills in the preschool period, whereas children with DLD, with or without dyslexia, show a wider range of impairments including significant problems with executive and motor tasks. Important evidence regarding the development of reading difficulties comes from studies of children at family risk (FR) of dyslexia These studies follow preschool children at high risk of developing reading disorder, comparing them to children at low risk, starting before they learn to read. There is suggestive evidence from neurophysiological studies that biomarkers of dyslexia evident in infancy include difficulties in processing speech sounds (Lepp€anen et al, 2011; van der Leij et al, 2013 for reviews) Together, these findings are consistent with the idea that dyslexia is a form of language learning disorder. The authors declare that they have no competing or potential conflicts of interests arising from publication of this study
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