Reading Difficulties In Children Research Articles

Face reading difficulties in children with neurofibromatosis type 1: towards more personalized treatments.

This commentary is on the original article by Lewis et al. on pages 174–180 of this issue.

White matter properties and reading in children born preterm: a step forward.

This commentary is on the original article by Dodson et al. on pages 695–702 of this issue. Preterm birth seems to be increasing, with an estimated prevalence of 11% of all live births worldwide in 2010.1 Importantly, 31% of children born preterm present lifelong neurodevelopmental effects. Executive function and language/learning difficulties are common sequelae of preterm birth, and are associated with increased health care costs and educational needs. Reading skills are essential for educational progress, as they are the gateway to academic achievement and general knowledge. Together with previous work, the diffusion magnetic resonance study by Dodson et al.2 advances our understanding of the neural basis of this key learning difficulty in children born preterm. Firstly, their findings suggest that phonological awareness is similar in children born at term and preterm at the early stages of learning to read, and that in both groups this ability is supported by dorsal tracts. In view of their results, it would be interesting to explore the association between phonological awareness and white matter microstructure in tracts other than the left-hemisphere arcuate fasciculus in participants born preterm. Positive results might indicate the contribution of compensatory mechanisms that bring the performance of children born preterm up to the level of participants born at term. To address these questions, the use of a whole brain approach that does not require a priori selection of tracts of interest might provide new insights. Secondly, the authors report an association (which is moderated by prematurity) between fractional anisotropy of the right uncinate fasciculus and receptive and expressive language. Interestingly, the authors posit that the lack of association in their preterm sample might be because the uncinate fasciculus myelates late and is slow to develop. Given that participants were in the early stages of learning to read, it would be interesting to monitor their reading acquisition and its neural correlate to check this hypothesis. Additionally, to further understand the origin of reading difficulties in children born preterm and their neural basis, the results should be interpreted in light of studies reporting delayed event-related potentials and mismatch negativity responses to speech sounds in 3-month old children born preterm. It has been suggested that these measures can be used for the early identification of the risk of language impairment.3 One strength of this study is that both fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity results are reported. These measures are related but different, and so reporting both gives a fuller picture of the neural bases underlying pre-reading skills. Another important strength is that results are controlled for non-verbal intellectual abilities. It might be argued, however, that the basic neuropsychological processes that have been reported to be impaired in children born preterm, such as visual perception and attention,4 may underlie reading difficulties as well. In particular, accurate signalling of shifts of attention by the visual system seem to be a key ability underlying reading performance.5 Thus, the fact that these functions were not directly assessed may represent a limitation. Overall, the study provides novel insights into the similarities and differences of the neurobiology of pre-reading skills in children born preterm and at term. These insights help to explain the previously reported variations observed by this research group in the neurobiology of reading in older participants born at term and preterm. Future studies including children born moderate/late preterm are also warranted as this seems to be the most frequent type of prematurity.1 Finally, we strongly encourage: further research with larger samples; an exploration into the effects of being a pre-reader/reader; the use of a whole brain approach; and ideally a longitudinal follow-up. The information provided by these studies could be used to assist reading acquisition in children born preterm.

Frequency discrimination and non-lexical reading in children with auditory processing disorders: a preliminary study

ABSTRACTPurpose: To explore the potential differential effect of auditory frequency discrimination (FD) difficulty on a range of reading and cognitive processes in children with Auditory Processing Disorders (APD).Methods: Sixteen children with APD (aged 7;5 to 10;2), eight with FD difficulty (FD-POOR group), and eight with age-appropriate FD (FD-TYPICAL group) were tested on measures of non-lexical and lexical reading, phonological processing (phonological awareness, phonological memory and rapid automatized naming), receptive language, auditory sustained attention, and executive function.Results: The results showed that children with poor FD experienced difficulty with tasks associated with non-lexical reading and phonological awareness. There were no significant differences between the groups on lexical reading, phonological memory and rapid automatized naming. Children with FD difficulty also showed poorer executive function. Specifically, they showed greater lag in reaction times (slower reaction times) on incongruent verses congruent trials on a modified Simon Task, indicating a larger Simon Effect. This suggests that these children were more affected by incongruency and showed poorer attention control. This finding was in the absence of significant differences in receptive language and auditory sustained attention.Conclusion: These findings support the notion that FD difficulty often co-exists with reading difficulty in children with APD. Extending the previous findings, the present results suggest that FD pertained largely with specific aspects of reading, namely the non-lexical reading process and phonological awareness. These findings are consistent with the current models of reading that non-lexical reading and phonological awareness are more dependent on AP abilities. Additionally, poorer executive function in children with poor FD support further investigation into the association between executive function, FD, and reading in children with APD.

Invented Spelling, Word Stress, and Syllable Awareness in Relation to Reading Difficulties in Children.

The study assessed the clinical utility of an invented spelling tool and determined whether invented spelling with linguistic manipulation at segmental and supra-segmental levels can be used to better identify reading difficulties. We conducted linguistic manipulation by using real and nonreal words, incorporating word stress, alternating the order of consonants and vowels, and alternating the number of syllables. We recruited 60 third-grade students, of which half were typical readers and half were poor readers. The invented spelling task consistently differentiated those with reading difficulties from typical readers. It explained unique variance in conventional spelling, but not in word reading. Word stress explained unique variance in both word reading and conventional spelling, highlighting the importance of addressing phonological awareness at the supra-segmental level. Poor readers had poorer performance when spelling both real and nonreal words and demonstrated substantial difficulty in detecting word stress. Poor readers struggled with spelling words with double consonants at the beginning and ending of words, and performed worse on spelling two- and three-syllable words than typical readers. Practical implications for early identification and instruction are discussed.

The Relationship Between Executive Functions with Reading Difficulties in Children with Specific Learning Disorder

Background: Determining the impact of executive dysfunction on reading defects in children with reading and learning disabilities can tremenddously help their treatment. In the recent decade, the role of executive functions has been considered very important and fundamental; following those considerations, therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the relationship between executive functions and problems with reading in children with specific learning disorders. Objectives: This study aims to investigate the relationship between executive functions with reading difficulties in children with specific learning disorders. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 29 children with specific learning disorders were selected by the NAMA Reading and Dyslexia Test. The Tower of London test, the Stroop Color and Word test, and the Wisconsin Sorting Card test were then utilized to test the subjects. To analyze the data, the Partial Least Squares method was used with P < 0.05 in Smart PLS version 2. Results: Our study showed that in children with specific learning disorders there were significant relationships between selective attention and reading problems (P < 0.05) as well as between planning and problems reading (P < 0.05). However, there was no significant relationship between cognitive flexibility and problems reading in children with learning disorders (P < 0.05). Discussion: The results of this study suggest that executive functions play an important role in reading problems of children with a specific learning disorder. In treating these children,, considerable attention should be paid to improve the executive functions.

Reading in children with temporal lobe epilepsy: A systematic review.

Children with epilepsy have higher rates of reading difficulties compared to the general population. Reading difficulties are associated with lower academic attainments, higher school drop-out rates, greater risk of unemployment, lower income, and poorer adjustment. We examined the literature dealing with reading in children with the most common type of focal epilepsy, temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), in relation to: presence of reading difficulties, contributing factors, and efficacy of treatments for reading difficulties. We searched databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and PubMed) for studies published before September 2016. Included studies (i) reported on a group of children with TLE, (ii) used a standardized reading test or included a control group, (iii) involved original research published in peer reviewed journals in the English language. Of 2018 citations obtained through literature searches, six met inclusion criteria. Reading accuracy and/or reading comprehension were assessed using different tests. All but one study found statistical evidence of reading difficulties in children with TLE. Only two studies examined relations between cognitive deficits and reading. One found that memory contributed to reading accuracy and comprehension. Another found evidence of a small decline in reading accuracy, which was not associated with a decline in memory post-surgery. Several studies were underpowered, giving false negative findings and not allowing relations between epilepsy factors, underlying cognitive deficits, and reading to be adequately examined. No study examined efficacy of reading intervention in this patient population. We showed that reading difficulties that are present in children with TLE are under researched, yet they have significant functional consequences through childhood and into adulthood. There is an urgent need to identify risk factors and investigate efficacy of treatments for reading difficulties in children with TLE, as this will enable early identification and evidence-based treatment to be delivered in clinical practice.

Reading difficulty in children: auditory and visual modalities\u2019 affection

BackgroundMany research studies have explained that an auditory processing deficit might be the underlying cause for some forms of reading difficulties. However, deficits affecting other modalities, such as vision might be the other potential contributing factor.ObjectivesThis research investigated both central auditory processing abilities and the visual pathway in children having scholastic underachievement due to reading difficulties.Patients and methodThe study group consisted of 15 children (eight male and seven female) between the age of 5 and 15 years. They had scholastic underachievement due reading difficulties. All children were subjected to a standardized Arabic central auditory test battery for children. It included tests for selective auditory attention, dichotic listening, memory, and temporal processing abilities. Other tests that were administered included electrophysiologic measures, auditory event-related potentials (P300), and visual-evoked potential (P100), as well as the Illinois test of psycholinguistic abilities and screening test for risk for dyslexia to verify reading complains and to assess psycholinguistic abilities.ResultsCentral auditory test battery that was accompanied by abnormal auditory event-related potentials (P300) revealed abnormal pattern mainly affecting temporal processing and memory abilities. However, some children had additional dichotic listening or selective auditory attention deficit. Abnormal visual-evoked potential (P100) was detected in the majority of children. The Illinois test revealed visual pattern affection in those children.ConclusionChildren with reading difficulties had temporal processing disorder and memory deficit pattern. Furthermore, there was an association between visual affection and reading difficulty that supports multimodality affection in those children. Hence, the remediation program for these children should include both auditory and visual modalities.

Understanding Word Reading Difficulties in Children With SLI

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) often show considerable reading difficulties. Research has revealed two primary reading profiles among children with SLI: (a) one of poor word reading and decoding skills and associated reading comprehension difficulties, and (b) one involving relatively strong word reading skills but poor comprehension. This article reviews studies characterizing these two subtypes of SLI, discusses their current clinical implications, and suggests important directions for future study.

Understanding Risk for Reading Difficulties in Children With Language Impairment.

The purpose of this study was to retrospectively examine the preschool language and early literacy skills of kindergarten good and poor readers, and to determine the extent to which these skills predict reading status. Participants were 136 children with language impairment enrolled in early childhood special education classrooms. On the basis of performance on a word recognition task given in kindergarten, children were classified as either good or poor readers. Comparisons were made across these 2 groups on a number of language and early literacy measures administered in preschool, and logistic regression was used to determine the best predictors of kindergarten reading status. Twenty-seven percent of the sample met criterion for poor reading in kindergarten. These children differed from good readers on most of the skills measured in preschool. The best predictors of kindergarten reading status were oral language, alphabet knowledge, and print concept knowledge. Presence of comorbid disabilities was not a significant predictor. Classification accuracy was good overall. Results suggest that risk of reading difficulty for children with language impairment can be reliably estimated in preschool, prior to the onset of formal reading instruction. Measures of both language and early literacy skills are important for identifying which children are likely to develop later reading difficulties.

The Use of Informational-communicational Technologies in Reading Difficulties Correction in Children

Abstract In this article we study the problem of reading difficulties in children. We analyze the results of a research, which was aimed at creating a program for optimizing the functioning of visual mechanisms and determining the possibility of improving reading capabilities in children with reading difficulties. A special program of correctional sessions was elaborated on the basis of informational-communicational software, which allows to affect visual mechanisms differentially. Practical implementation of this program in experiments proved the effectiveness of given approaches in organizing correctional sessions aimed at overcoming reading difficulties and their prevention in children.

Do the Kinds of Achievement Errors Made by Students Diagnosed With ADHD Vary as a Function of Their Reading Ability?

A large body of research has documented the relationship between attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and reading difficulties in children; however, there have been no studies to date that have examined errors made by students with ADHD and reading difficulties. The present study sought to determine whether the kinds of achievement errors made by students diagnosed with ADHD vary as a function of their reading ability. The participants in this study were 91 students in the ADHD clinical validity standardization sample of the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement–Third Edition (KTEA-3), as well as a control group of 63 students selected from the larger standardization sample. Students with ADHD and reading difficulties demonstrated a statistically significant greater amount of errors across tests of academic achievement. Findings from the study are discussed within the context of past research, as well as implications for the field of school psychology and practitioners.

Annual Conference 2014 paper: Performance on a novel visual-spatialmotor task may predict reading difficulties in children

Developmental dyslexia is as a common disorder characterised by difficulties with reading despite adequate intelligence and education. The aim of the study was to test and develop a new diagnostic tool called ‘dot-to-dot’ task (DtD). This simple, computer-based task relied on a combination of visual-spatial and motor skills; the skills that are often compromised in people with dyslexia. Thus far, a total of 127 children (69 males) aged between 4 and 10 took part in the study. The results suggested that children who were found to be at very high risk of dyslexia were significantly worse in connecting the first two dots of the DtD task than children with low risk. The preliminary findings from this study suggest that a novel visual-spatial-motor task may be able to predict reading success. A large-scale, cross-sectional sampling approach is being adopted in order to capture a representative sample of children. Preliminary findings suggested that the DtD may identify individuals with dyslexia earlier and faster than existing tests.

All Roads Lead to Rome? Distinct Neural Circuits in Different Developmental Disorders are Related to Reading Difficulties in Children

All Roads Lead to Rome? Distinct Neural Circuits in Different Developmental Disorders are Related to Reading Difficulties in Children

This issue of ACTA, printed and electronic

This issue of <i><scp>ACTA</scp></i>, printed and electronic

Thalamo-cortical connectivity: what can diffusion tractography tell us about reading difficulties in children?

Reading is an essential skill in modern society, but many people have deficits in the decoding and word recognition aspects of reading, a difficulty often referred to as dyslexia. The primary focus of neuroimaging studies to date in dyslexia has been on cortical regions; however, subcortical regions may also be important for explaining this disability. Here, we used diffusion tensor imaging to examine the association between thalamo-cortical connectivity and children's reading ability in 20 children with typically developed reading ability (age range 8-17/10-17 years old from two imaging centers) and 19 children with developmental dyslexia (DYS) (age range 9-17/9-16 years old). To measure thalamo-cortical connections, the structural images were segmented into cortical and subcortical anatomical regions that were used as target and seed regions in the probabilistic tractography analysis. Abnormal thalamic connectivity was found in the dyslexic group in the sensorimotor and lateral prefrontal cortices. These results suggest that the thalamus may play a key role in reading behavior by mediating the functions of task-specific cortical regions; such findings lay the foundation for future studies to investigate further neurobiological anomalies in the development of thalamo-cortical connectivity in DYS.

The relationship between inhibition and working memory in predicting children's reading difficulties

The study evaluated the role of working memory and inhibition in predicting children's word reading difficulties. Twenty‐one participants with word reading difficulties were individually matched to two other participants to form the chronological‐age‐matched and the reading‐level‐matched group. All participants were administered measures of performance IQ, inhibition and working memory. Multinomial logistic regression revealed that tasks of working memory and a composite measure of inhibition discriminated between the groups above the impact of performance IQ when the working memory task was verbally based, but only inhibition discriminated when a nonverbal working memory task was used. This suggests domain‐specific deficits on tasks of working memory, independent of the influence of inhibition on reading difficulties. The implications for theory and assessment practice are discussed.Practitioner pointsWhat is already known about this topic Children with reading difficulties show impairments with some executive function tasks. Discrepant findings reported in the literature may be related to task modality (e.g. verbal or nonverbal response).What this paper adds Tasks of inhibition and working memory, which required a verbal response discriminated children with reading difficulties from both chronological‐age‐matched and reading‐level‐matched control groups. However, when working memory tasks that placed fewer demands on participants' language skills were used, they did not successfully discriminate between the groups. Executive function task performance was more predictive of reading group membership than general performance measures of cognitive abilities (IQ). Results suggest a deficit with inhibition and verbal working memory, which was not due to slower developing language skills.Implications for practice and/or policy Educational and School Psychologists, Special Educational Needs Advisers and Coordinators, and others engaged in the identification of reading difficulties should consider including tests of inhibition in assessments of executive function.

Self-Esteem at School and Self-Handicapping in Childhood: Comparison of Groups with Learning Disabilities

Recent research has focused on the role of self-esteem and self-handicapping strategies in the school domain. Self-handicapping refers to maladaptive strategies employed by adults and children for protection and maintenance of positive school self esteem. In this study the self-esteem and the self-handicapping strategies of children with dyslexia, reading comprehension disabilities, and mathematical disabilities were compared to a control group with normal learning. There were 56 children whose mean age was 8 (23 girls, 33 boys), attending Grade 3 of primary school. These pupils were selected by scores on a battery of learning tests commonly used in Italy for assessment of learning disabilities. Analyses suggested these children with dyslexia, reading comprehension disabilities, and mathematical disabilities had lower ratings of self-esteem at school and employed more self-handicapping strategies than did children whose learning was normal. More research is required to identify and examine in depth the factors that promote adaptive strategies to cope with children's reading difficulties.

Changing concepts of dyslexia: nature, treatment and comorbidity

Changing concepts of dyslexia: nature, treatment and comorbidity

Evidence-based interventions for reading and language difficulties: Creating a virtuous circle

BACKGROUND. Children may experience two very different forms of reading problem: decoding difficulties (dyslexia) and reading comprehension difficulties. Decoding difficulties appear to be caused by problems with phonological (speech sound) processing. Reading comprehension difficulties in contrast appear to be caused by problems with 'higher level' language difficulties including problems with semantics (including deficient knowledge of word meanings) and grammar (knowledge of morphology and syntax). AIMS. We review evidence concerning the nature, causes of, and treatments for children's reading difficulties. We argue that any well-founded educational intervention must be based on a sound theory of the causes of a particular form of learning difficulty, which in turn must be based on an understanding of how a given skill is learned by typically developing children. Such theoretically motivated interventions should in turn be evaluated in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to establish whether they are effective, and for whom. RESULTS. There is now considerable evidence showing that phonologically based interventions are effective in ameliorating children's word level decoding difficulties, and a smaller evidence base showing that reading and oral language (OL) comprehension difficulties can be ameliorated by suitable interventions to boost vocabulary and broader OL skills. CONCLUSIONS. The process of developing theories about the origins of children's educational difficulties and evaluating theoretically motivated treatments in RCTs, produces a 'virtuous circle' whereby theory informs practice, and the evaluation of effective interventions in turn feeds back to inform and refine theories about the nature and causes of children's reading and language difficulties.

Differential Genetic Etiology of Reading Difficulties as a Function of IQ: An Update

In order to test the hypothesis that the genetic etiology of reading disability differs as a function of IQ, composite reading performance data from 308 pairs of identical (monozygotic, MZ) twins and 440 pairs of fraternal (dizygotic, DZ) twins (254 same-sex and 186 opposite-sex) in which at least one member of each pair was classified as reading-disabled were subjected to multiple regression analysis (DeFries and Fulker, Behav Genet 15:467-473, 1985; Acta Genet Med Gemellol 37:205-216, 1988). In the total sample, heritability of the group deficit in reading performance (h(g)(2)) was .61 (±.06). However, results of fitting an extended regression model to reading performance and IQ data suggested that the genetic etiology of reading disability differs as a linear function of IQ (p ≤ .04). When the basic regression model was fitted separately to data from twin pairs with Wechsler (Examiner's manual: Wechsler intelligence scale for children-revised, 1974; Examiner's manual: Wechsler adult intelligence scale-revised, 1981) Full Scale IQ scores in the upper and lower 25% of the sample, resulting estimates of h(g)(2) were .75 (±.12) and .50 (±.10), respectively (p ≤ .045). These results suggest that reading difficulties in children with a higher IQ are due substantially to genetic influences and may require intensive remediation efforts.