Recent research has confirmed that hemispheric patterns of dominance are related to reading skills. Reading is more complex than speech because it includes a visuo-spatial element. In the great majority of people, the left hemisphere deals with speech and sequencing skills. Visual matching of printed words requires the spatial skills of the right hemisphere. The skilled reader may go directly from visual word matching to meaning without the intervention of speech patterns. The young learner, however, must proceed step by step to link spoken words with written material. When lateralization is incomplete, mixed or reversed, a conflict occurs between hemisphere dominance and the direction of scanning, leading to the reversal of letters or even words. Many researchers support the suggestion by Samuel Orton that poor readers often lack consistent patterns of dominance; an example is non-right-handed persons, who may have speech located in both hemispheres, making the normal visuo-spatial skills of the right hemisphere inadequate. (Discussion following presentation of the paper is included.) (Author/RL)