Predictors of response to intervention of word reading fluency in Dutch

A stitch in time…: Comparing late-identified, late-emerging and early-identified dyslexia

When dyslexia is diagnosed late, the question is whether this is due to late-emerging (LE) or late-identified (LI) problems. In a random selection of dyslexia-diagnosis case files we distinguished early-diagnosed (Grade 1-3, n = 116) and late-diagnosed (Grade 4-6) dyslexia. The late-diagnosed files were divided into LE (n = 54) and LI dyslexia (n = 45). The LE group consisted of children whose national-curriculum literacy outcomes did not warrant referral for dyslexia diagnosis in Grades 1-2; the LI group of children whose literacy outcomes did, but who were referred for diagnostic assessment after Grade 3. At the time of diagnosis, the percentage of poor performers on word-level literacy measures generally did not differ between the groups. Only the LE group contained fewer poor performers than the early-diagnosed and LI group on some word-reading measures. All groups showed similar distributions of phonological difficulties. There were no indications of compensation through vocabulary, memory or IQ in either late-diagnosed group. Our diagnosis-based study confirms and extends previous research-based studies on LE dyslexia. Moreover, it shows that LI dyslexia exists, which can be regarded as the existence of instructional casualties. The findings speak to issues of identification, diagnosis and compensation and call for further efforts to improve the early identification of dyslexia.

Reading-impaired children improve through text-fading training: analyses of comprehension, orthographic knowledge, and RAN

Early intervention for children with reading impairments is crucial in order to achieve reading improvements and avoid school failure. One line of reading intervention research focuses on the experimental manipulation of reading rate through a text-fading training approach. Considering relevant reading-related predictors (i.e., orthographic knowledge and rapid automatized naming; RAN), we aim at evaluating the text-fading training's efficiency for a sample of German reading-impaired third graders (n = 120). The purpose of the present study was to examine (1) the predictive value of orthographic knowledge and RAN and their contribution of explained variance in comprehension performance during training, (2) text-fading training effects on reading rate and comprehension in a pre-post comparison, and (3) (lasting) text-fading training effects at word and sentence level in a pre-post-follow-up design. Results of structural models indicated RAN to be significantly related to comprehension performance for the experimental group, whereas no sufficient regression weight was found for orthographic knowledge. A reverse pattern was found for the self-paced group. No significant improvements regarding reading rate and comprehension were revealed for the experimental group after training. However, significant positive effects on word and sentence level at post-test time point indicate stronger reading improvements for the experimental compared to the control group. The retention of training gains was indicated at sentence-level reading 6 months after the training. Possible explanations for the presented positive training effects as well as the mixed results for reading rate, comprehension, and follow-up preservation are discussed.

Education for students with neurodevelopmental disabilities-Resources and educational adjustments

Children with neurodevelopmental disorders are more likely to face challenges of various kinds throughout their schooling due to their vulnerability factors. Although certain evidence-based practices have been recognized to be effective in supporting academic performance or social and personal adjustment, transferring these practices to school realities remains a challenge. Indeed, the educational trend favored for more than 20 years promotes the development of all students in the most natural context possible. The objective of this chapter is to shed light on how resources and EBPs can be organized in an inclusive education context. A tiered framework, commonly adopted as different models across the world, is presented and used to demonstrate how interventions can be prioritized for the difficulties and special needs of specific (e.g., ADHD, dyslexia, and developmental coordination disorder) and complex (e.g., autism spectrum disorder) neurodevelopmental disorders. The chapter ends with a discussion of the conditions and drivers of intervention fidelity and effectiveness in an inclusive context and, more specifically, support for teachers and parents.

Predicting responsiveness to a sustained reading and spelling intervention in children with dyslexia

The present study aimed to predict responsiveness to a sustained two-phase reading and spelling intervention with a focus on declarative and procedural learning respectively in 122 second-grade Dutch children with dyslexia. We related their responsiveness to intervention to precursor measures (phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming ability, letter knowledge, and verbal working memory) and related word and pseudoword reading and spelling outcomes of the sustained intervention to initial reading and spelling abilities, and first-phase, initial treatment success. Results showed that children with dyslexia improved in reading accuracy and efficiency and in spelling skills during the two phases of the intervention although the gap with typical readers increased. In reading efficiency, rapid automatized naming, and in reading and spelling accuracy phoneme deletion predicted children's responsiveness to intervention. Additionally, children's initial reading abilities at the start of the intervention directly (and indirectly, via initial treatment success, in reading efficiency) predicted posttest outcomes. Responsiveness to intervention in spelling was predicted by phoneme deletion, and spelling at posttest was indirectly, via initial treatment success, predicted by children's initial spelling abilities. Finally, children's initial treatment success directly predicted reading efficiency and spelling outcomes at posttest.

Dyslexia as a Neurodevelopmental Disorder and What Makes It Different from a Chess Disorder

The convenience of referring to dyslexia as a neurodevelopmental disorder has been repeatedly brought into question. In this opinion article, we argue in favor of the current diagnosis of dyslexia based on the criteria of harm and dysfunction. We discuss the favorable clinical and educational outcomes of a neuroscience-informed approach of dyslexia as a disorder. Furthermore, we discuss insights derived from neuroimaging studies and their importance to address problems related to developmental dyslexia.

The Role of Categorical Speech Perception and Phonological Processing in Familial Risk Children With and Without Dyslexia

PURPOSE

This study assessed whether a categorical speech perception (CP) deficit is associated with dyslexia or familial risk for dyslexia, by exploring a possible cascading relation from speech perception to phonology to reading and by identifying whether speech perception distinguishes familial risk (FR) children with dyslexia (FRD) from those without dyslexia (FRND).

METHOD

Data were collected from 9-year-old FRD (n = 37) and FRND (n = 41) children and age-matched controls (n = 49) on CP identification and discrimination and on the phonological processing measures rapid automatized naming, phoneme awareness, and nonword repetition.

RESULTS

The FRD group performed more poorly on CP than the FRND and control groups. Findings on phonological processing align with the literature in that (a) phonological processing related to reading and (b) the FRD group showed the lowest phonological processing outcomes. Furthermore, CP correlated weakly with reading, but this relationship was fully mediated by rapid automatized naming.

CONCLUSION

Although CP phonological skills are related to dyslexia, there was no strong evidence for a cascade from CP to phonology to reading. Deficits in CP at the behavioral level are not directly associated with dyslexia.

Dichotic listening as an index of lateralization of speech perception in familial risk children with and without dyslexia

Atypical language lateralization has been marked as one of the factors that may contribute to the development of dyslexia. Indeed, atypical lateralization of linguistic functions such as speech processing in dyslexia has been demonstrated using neuroimaging studies, but also using the behavioral dichotic listening (DL) method. However, so far, DL results have been mixed. The current study assesses lateralization of speech processing by using DL in a sample of children at familial risk (FR) for dyslexia. In order to determine whether atypical lateralization of speech processing relates to reading ability, or is a correlate of being at familial risk, the current study compares the laterality index of FR children who did and did not become dyslexic, and a control group of readers without dyslexia. DL was tested in 3rd grade and in 5/6th grade. Results indicate that at both time points, all three groups have a right ear advantage, indicative of more pronounced left-hemispheric processing. However, the FR-dyslexic children are less good at reporting from the left ear than controls and FR-nondyslexic children. This impediment relates to reading fluency.

Are Child Cognitive Characteristics Strong Predictors of Responses to Intervention? A Meta-Analysis

We conducted a meta-analysis of 28 studies comprising 39 samples to ask the question, "What is the magnitude of the association between various baseline child cognitive characteristics and response to reading intervention?" Studies were located via literature searches, contact with researchers in the field, and review of references from the National Reading Panel Report. Eligible participant populations included at-risk elementary school children enrolled in the third grade or below. Effects were analyzed using a shifting unit of analysis approach within three statistical models: cognitive characteristics predicting growth curve slope (Model 1, mean r = .31), gain (Model 2, mean r = .21), or postintervention reading controlling for preintervention reading (Model 3, mean r = .15). Effects were homogeneous within each model when effects were aggregated within study. The small size of the effects calls into question the practical significance and utility of using cognitive characteristics for prediction of response when baseline reading is available.

Dyslexia and early intervention: what did we learn from the Dutch Dyslexia Programme?

Part of the Dutch Dyslexia Programme has been dedicated to early intervention. The question of whether the genetically affected learning mechanism of children who are at familial risk (FR) of developing dyslexia could be influenced by training phoneme awareness and letter-sound associations in the prereading phase was investigated. The rationale was that intervention studies reveal insights about the weaknesses of the learning mechanisms of FR children. In addition, the studies aimed to gather practical insights to be used in the development of a system of early diagnosis and prevention. Focused on the last period of kindergarten before formal reading instruction starts in Grade 1, intervention methods with comparable samples and designs but differences in delivery mode (use of computer or manual), tutor (semi-professional or parent), location (at school or at home), and additional practices (serial rapid naming or simple word reading) have been executed to test the hypothesis that the incidence and degree of dyslexia can be reduced. The present position paper summarizes the Dutch Dyslexia Programme findings and relates them to findings of other studies. It is discussed that the Dutch studies provide evidence on why prevention of dyslexia is hard to accomplish. It is argued that effective intervention should not only start early but also be adapted to the individual and often long-lasting educational needs of children at risk of reading failure.

Improving word reading speed: individual differences interact with a training focus on successes or failures

The effect of two training procedures on the development of reading speed in poor readers is examined. One training concentrates on the words the children read correctly (successes), the other on the words they read incorrectly (failures). Children were either informed or not informed about the training focus. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 79 poor readers. They repeatedly read regularly spelled Dutch consonant-vowel-consonant words, some children their successes, others their failures. The training used a computerized flashcards format. The exposure duration of the words was varied to maintain an accuracy rate at a constant level. Reading speed improved and transferred to untrained, orthographically more complex words. These transfer effects were characterized by an Aptitude-Treatment Interaction. Poor readers with a low initial reading level improved most in the training focused on successes. For poor readers with a high initial reading level, however, it appeared to be more profitable to practice with their failures. Informing students about the focus of the training positively affected training: The exposure duration needed for children informed about the focus of the training decreased more than for children who were not informed. This study suggests that neither of the two interventions is superior to the other in general. Rather, the improvement of general reading speed in a transparent orthography is closely related to both the children's initial reading level and the type of words they practice with: common and familiar words when training their successes and uncommon and less familiar words with training their failures.

Accelerating chronically unresponsive children to tier 3 instruction: what level of data is necessary to ensure selection accuracy?

Response-to-intervention (RTI) approaches to disability identification are meant to put an end to the so-called wait-to-fail requirement associated with IQ discrepancy. However, in an unfortunate irony, there is a group of children who wait to fail in RTI frameworks. That is, they must fail both general classroom instruction (Tier 1) and small-group intervention (Tier 2) before becoming eligible for the most intensive intervention (Tier 3). The purpose of this article was to determine how to predict accurately which at-risk children will be unresponsive to Tiers 1 and 2, thereby allowing unresponsive children to move directly from Tier 1 to Tier 3. As part of an efficacy study of a multitier RTI approach to prevention and identification of reading disabilities (RD), 129 first-grade children who were unresponsive to classroom reading instruction were randomly assigned to 14 weeks of small-group, Tier 2 intervention. Nonresponders to this instruction (n = 33) were identified using local norms on first-grade word identification fluency growth linked to a distal outcome of RD at the end of second grade. Logistic regression models were used to predict membership in responder and nonresponder groups. Predictors were entered as blocks of data from least to most difficult to obtain: universal screening data, Tier 1 response data, norm referenced tests, and Tier 2 response data. Tier 2 response data were not necessary to classify students as responders and nonresponders to Tier 2 instruction, suggesting that some children can be accurately identified as eligible for Tier 3 intervention using only Tier 1 data, thereby avoiding prolonged periods of failure to instruction.