Treatment of single word oral reading in an individual with deep dyslexia

Abstract

Background: Deep dyslexia is an acquired reading disorder in which the lexical and nonlexical reading routes are impaired, resulting in poor nonword reading, semantic errors in oral reading, visual-perceptual errors in oral reading, poor reading of functors, and imageability effects. There is evidence that individuals combine information from the lexical (semantic system) and the non-lexical routes to read words aloud. This evidence shows that partial phonological and semantic information combined at the level of the phonological output lexicon reduces semantic errors in reading aloud and increases the ability to produce the correct words. Aims: The aim of the present study was to use a phonologically based oral reading treatment to treat impaired single word oral reading in an individual with deep dyslexia. We hypothesised that phonologically based treatment would improve oral reading of real words, decreasing the amount of semantic errors. Methods & Procedures: The Wilson Reading System was used in therapy. This phonics-based programme focuses on the use of grapheme-phoneme correspondences, blending, and phonological awareness. A multiple-baseline design was used to evaluate the treatment effects in a single individual with deep dyslexia. Outcomes & Results: Following treatment at the single word level, the individual showed a significant improvement in single word oral reading for the targeted syllabic structure and in nonword reading. There was also a significant reduction in semantic errors in oral reading. One month post-treatment, the individual maintained treatment gains. Conclusions: Results support the hypothesis that the partial use of phonological information, combined with semantic information, results in improved accuracy of oral reading. This suggests that treatment of oral reading in people with deep dyslexia may benefit from attention to the non-lexical (phonological) component of reading in addition to the lexical/semantic component.