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…

The purpose of this study was to examine if children with dyslexia learning to read a consistent orthography (Greek) experience auditory and visual processing deficits and if these deficits are associated with phonological awareness, rapid naming speed and orthographic processing. We administered measures of general cognitive ability, phonological…

The ability to identify stop consonants from brief onset spectra was compared between a group of Chinese children with phonological dyslexia (the PD group, with a mean age of 10 years 4 months) and a group of chronological age-matched control children. The linguistic context, which included vowels and speakers, and durations of stop onset spectra…

We outline how research into predictors of literacy underpins the development of increasingly accurate and informative assessments. We report three studies that emphasize the crucial role of speech and auditory skills on literacy development throughout primary and secondary school. Our first study addresses the effects of early childhood middle…

Deficits in verbal short-term memory have been identified as one factor underlying reading and spelling disorders. However, the nature of this deficit is still unclear. It has been proposed that poor readers make less use of phonological coding, especially if the task can be solved through visual strategies. In the framework of Baddeley's…

Several auditory processing deficits have been reported in children with dyslexia. In order to assess for the presence of a binaural integration type of auditory processing deficit, dichotic listening tests with digits, words and consonant-vowel (CV) pairs were administered to two groups of right-handed 11-year-old children, one group diagnosed…

Phonology has been a central concept in the scientific study of dyslexia over the past decades. Despite its central position, however, it is a concept with no precise definition or status. The present article investigates the notion of "phonology" in the tradition of cognitive psychology. An attempt is made to characterize the basic assumptions of…

Reynolds and Nicolson ("Dyslexia," 2007; 13: 78-96) claim to show that the "dyslexia dyspraxia attention-deficit treatment" (DDAT) benefits children with reading difficulties. However, Rack, Snowling, Hulme, and Gibbs ("Dyslexia," 2007; 13: 97-104) argue that because this study did not include an untrained control group then "all that needs to be…

The role of central auditory processing in reading skill development and reading disorders is unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine whether individuals with specific reading disabilities (SRD) have deficits in processing rapidly presented, serially ordered non-speech auditory signals. To this end, we compared 12 children with SRD and…