Children who read words accurately despite language impairment: who are they and how do they do it?

Journal article

Some children learn to read accurately despite language impairments (LI). Nine- to 10-year-olds were categorized as having LI only (n = 35), dyslexia (DX) only (n = 73), LI + DX (n = 54), or as typically developing (TD; n = 176). The LI-only group had mild to moderate deficits in reading comprehension. They were similar to the LI + DX group on most language measures, but rapid serial naming was superior to the LI + DX group and comparable to the TD. For a subset of children seen at 4 and 6 years, early phonological skills were equally poor in those later classified as LI or LI + DX. Poor language need not hinder acquisition of decoding, so long as rapid serial naming is intact; reading comprehension, however, is constrained by LI.

Authors: Bishop, D; McDonald, D; Bird, S; Hayiou-Thomas, M

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Child development
• Volume: 80
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 593-605
• Publication date: 2009-01-01
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01281.x
• EISSN: 1467-8624
• ISSN: 0009-3920
• Language: English
• Keywords: Terminology as Topic; Comprehension; Reading; Serial Learning; Child, Preschool; Age Factors; Language Tests; Language Development Disorders; Child; Comorbidity; Speech; Humans; Psycholinguistics; Male; Dyslexia; Female