In the neurolinguistic approach to the study of the acquisition of reading and writing, language may be used to express thoughts and intellectual attitudes as well as emotions and emotional attitudes. Experimental studies and clinical data suggest that grammatical rules for spoken language predominantly rely on the left hemisphere of the brain, while the grammatical rules for body language (expressing emotions) rely more on the right hemisphere. The neurolinguistic approach also holds that: (1) in normal children and adults there is a strong relationship between expressive speech ability and reading and writing; (2) dyslexia is related to a left hemisphere lesion or to the absence of left hemisphere dominance for auditory discrimination of speech sounds; (3) speechless persons can develop reading and writing skills; (4) there are some basic abilities that must be available to these persons; and (5) it is possible to support the development of these abilities by using pictorial symbols. (Ten figures are included and 15 references are attached.) (RS)