DyslexiaPub Date : 2026-07-14DOI: 10.1002/dys.70039
Salomé Geertsema, Eileen Olivier, Cassidy Shaw, Isabel Turner, Dandelion Valkenburg, Kallyn van der Spuy, Sandra Stark, Mia Le Roux, Marien Alet Graham, Heidi Mapisa
{"title":"A South African Investigation Into Etiological and Background Factors in Developmental Dyslexia","authors":"Salomé Geertsema, Eileen Olivier, Cassidy Shaw, Isabel Turner, Dandelion Valkenburg, Kallyn van der Spuy, Sandra Stark, Mia Le Roux, Marien Alet Graham, Heidi Mapisa","doi":"10.1002/dys.70039","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dys.70039","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Understanding the etiological and background factors associated with developmental dyslexia (DD) is crucial for effective early identification, perceptive support, informed therapist management, and differentiated teacher instruction. A retrospective, cross-sectional, and comparative research design was employed to investigate these factors in the South African population with DD using existing data from a professional academy for the assessment and diagnosis of DD. Four thousand three hundred and seventy school-aged individuals were included. Data were collected across South Africa through the academy's standardised and validated diagnostic tool. Caregiver consent and child assent for the anonymised use of data for further research were obtained before collection. Specific factors of late speech development, prior speech therapy, audiological consultations, negative emotions (anger, frustration, and diagnosed depression), and gender were investigated. Statistical analyses revealed specific significant associations between these factors and different subtypes of DD. Findings underscore the importance of noting the various etiological and background factors associated with DD subtypes, which can inform knowledgeable detection and sympathetic support in classroom settings and subsequent referral and intervention strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":47222,"journal":{"name":"Dyslexia","volume":"32 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/dys.70039","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148438230","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DyslexiaPub Date : 2026-07-13DOI: 10.1002/dys.70041
Ana Pellicer-Magraner, Miriam Zarzo-Benlloch, Amparo Ygual-Fernández, José F. Cervera-Mérida
{"title":"The Severity of Phonological Deficit as a Determinant of Dyslexia Compensation in Adulthood","authors":"Ana Pellicer-Magraner, Miriam Zarzo-Benlloch, Amparo Ygual-Fernández, José F. Cervera-Mérida","doi":"10.1002/dys.70041","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dys.70041","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Dyslexia is a lifelong developmental condition affecting reading, with a prevalence of approximately 5% in adulthood. A small group can partially compensate for reading difficulties and achieve effective reading skills. This study explores the characteristics of this group, comparing cognitive and reading variables with typical readers and non-compensated readers with dyslexia. The study included 101 adults: 30 without dyslexia, 21 with compensated dyslexia and 50 with non-compensated dyslexia. Cognitive and linguistic tests assessed non-verbal intelligence, working memory, phonological awareness, naming speed, verbal fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension, lexical decision, reading frequent words, infrequent words, pseudowords, simple text and technical text. Results showed that the compensated group performed similarly to the control group in semantic verbal fluency, vocabulary and word recognition accuracy. Significant differences emerged between controls, compensated and non-compensated groups in phonological awareness, low-frequency word reading and technical text reading. Semantic verbal fluency and phonological awareness strongly determined membership in the non-compensated group. Speed performance on phonological tasks predicted speed reading in the compensated group for tasks involving the phonological reading route. Individuals with compensated dyslexia appear to have partially compensated for phonological processing difficulties. Their better performance in demanding phonological awareness tasks differentiates them from the non-compensated group.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47222,"journal":{"name":"Dyslexia","volume":"32 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148438290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DyslexiaPub Date : 2026-07-13DOI: 10.1002/dys.70040
Robannie A. Sumner, Kate E. Tonta, Adrienne Wilmot, Elizabeth Hill, Mark E. Boyes
{"title":"Dyslexia, School-Connectedness, Depression, and Anxiety During the Transition From Primary to Secondary School","authors":"Robannie A. Sumner, Kate E. Tonta, Adrienne Wilmot, Elizabeth Hill, Mark E. Boyes","doi":"10.1002/dys.70040","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dys.70040","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Children with dyslexia are at elevated risk of depression and anxiety. The transition from primary to secondary school may be particularly challenging given increased educational demands. Past research indicates school-connectedness may be a protective factor across this transition. We tested longitudinal relationships between dyslexia, school-connectedness, depression, and anxiety over the secondary school transition. Children (<i>N</i> = 208, <i>M</i><sub>age</sub> = 12.16, 58% girls, 61 with dyslexia) and their caregivers (95% mothers) completed standardised measures of school-connectedness, depression, and anxiety in Year 6, and again in Year 7 after the transition to secondary school. Mediation models tested direct and indirect effects of dyslexia on Year 7 depression and anxiety through domains of school-connectedness (whole school, peer, friend, and teacher). After adjusting for Year 6 depression, anxiety, and gender, there were no significant direct effects of dyslexia on depression or anxiety in Year 7. However, dyslexia was indirectly associated with both depression and anxiety via school- and peer-connectedness. These findings support the role of school-connectedness in supporting mental health, and suggest peer-connectedness might be an important protective factor post-transition to secondary school. Future studies should explore further change across adolescence and mental health promotion targeting school- and peer-connectedness among children with dyslexia.</p>","PeriodicalId":47222,"journal":{"name":"Dyslexia","volume":"32 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/dys.70040","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148431252","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DyslexiaPub Date : 2026-06-22DOI: 10.1002/dys.70038
Joaquín M. M. Vaquero, Ian C. Simpson, Sylvia Defior, Gracia Jiménez-Fernández
{"title":"Implicit Sequence Learning in Children With Reading Difficulties: Dyslexia Versus Low Intellectual Functioning","authors":"Joaquín M. M. Vaquero, Ian C. Simpson, Sylvia Defior, Gracia Jiménez-Fernández","doi":"10.1002/dys.70038","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dys.70038","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Dyslexia refers to difficulties in acquiring fluent reading in the absence of an intellectual deficit. In the current study, we addressed two controversial issues surrounding this disorder. Firstly, the hypothesis of an implicit learning impairment that could contribute to the development of dyslexia, and secondly, the need to distinguish reading difficulties according to IQ, the so-called discrepancy definition between reading ability and expected ability. Of relevance, it has been suggested that implicit learning is relatively independent of IQ in comparison to explicit/strategic learning. Consequently, we compared implicit sequence learning in children (8–9 years old) with dyslexia, poor readers associated with low intellectual functioning (LIF), and typically developing children (TD). Both the Dyslexia and LIF groups learned less than the TD group. Therefore, the Dyslexia group's performance supports the hypothesis of an implicit learning deficit in this population. However, the poor learning shown by the LIF group challenges the necessity of a discrepancy definition for dyslexia (poor reading despite average IQ). This paper argues that implicit learning may influence the severity of reading difficulties rather than act as a causal factor and highlights the need for further research on the usefulness of distinguishing reading difficulties based on LIF.</p>","PeriodicalId":47222,"journal":{"name":"Dyslexia","volume":"32 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/dys.70038","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148303498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DyslexiaPub Date : 2026-06-18DOI: 10.1002/dys.70035
Rachel Schiff, Ayelet Sasson
{"title":"Script-Specific Predictors of Reading Comprehension in Hebrew-Speaking Children With Reading Difficulties","authors":"Rachel Schiff, Ayelet Sasson","doi":"10.1002/dys.70035","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dys.70035","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study investigates cognitive-linguistic predictors of reading comprehension (RC) in Hebrew-speaking children with reading difficulties (RD). Hebrew's dual orthographic system including vowelized (shallow) and unvowelized (deep) scripts offers a valuable context for examining how cognitive-linguistic predictors differentially support reading across levels of orthographic transparency. A cross-sectional design was used with Grade 3 children with RD, utilising Fisher's Z-tests to identify significant differences in the strength of correlations between predictors and RC across scripts as well as multilevel modelling (MLM) to clarify the unique contribution of each predictor within each orthographic context. Results indicate that PA showed a stronger contribution to RC in the vowelized script, whereas RAN, vocabulary, and unvowelized word reading efficiency were stronger predictors in the unvowelized script. Cognitive flexibility was associated with RC in both scripts based on Pearson correlations, but MLM indicated a significant contribution only in the unvowelized script. These findings highlight the importance of considering orthographic depth when evaluating the cognitive-linguistic underpinnings of reading and offer script-specific insights that may inform assessment practices and intervention planning for children with RD.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47222,"journal":{"name":"Dyslexia","volume":"32 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148273329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DyslexiaPub Date : 2026-06-14DOI: 10.1002/dys.70036
Helena Oliv, Anna Eva Hallin
{"title":"Beyond Spelling: Oral and Written Expository Discourse Skills in Adolescents With Dyslexia","authors":"Helena Oliv, Anna Eva Hallin","doi":"10.1002/dys.70036","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dys.70036","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Students with dyslexia may produce shorter written texts with poorer content and less complex language than peers, but it remains unclear whether such differences reflect increased writing effort associated with dyslexia or co-occurring non-phonological language difficulties. Therefore, this study compared oral and written discourse skills in Swedish adolescents (11–16 years old) with dyslexia (<i>n</i> = 16) and typical development (<i>n</i> = 37). Each participant explained a sport or game of their choice—first orally and, on a later occasion, in writing. Samples were analysed for productivity, syntactic complexity, linguistic and spelling accuracy and content. No significant group differences were found in either task apart from spelling. Across groups oral samples had higher linguistic accuracy, more words and more content than written samples. The results indicate that the spelling and decoding abilities that characterise dyslexia are not associated with poorer content, productivity, complexity or accuracy of written or oral samples and highlight the importance of a thorough oral language evaluation when students present with written language difficulties beyond spelling. Future studies should compare discourse skills in adolescents with dyslexia only, dyslexia with co-occurring developmental language disorder/DLD and DLD only, to further investigate the role of non-phonological language skills in oral and written discourse production.</p>","PeriodicalId":47222,"journal":{"name":"Dyslexia","volume":"32 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/dys.70036","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148253901","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Dyslexia Knowledge, Attitudes and Self-Efficacy Among Chinese Mainstream School Teachers","authors":"Minghui Lu, Xiaofang Xie, Mengxi Yuan, Dichao Liang","doi":"10.1002/dys.70037","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dys.70037","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Dyslexia is a common learning disability affecting language processing and literacy acquisition. In China, although prevalence rates are comparable to Western countries, awareness among teachers remains limited. Teachers are key to the early identification and support of students with dyslexia, yet many feel unprepared or hold misconceptions about the condition. This quantitative survey included 909 mainstream primary and secondary school teachers from Guangdong Province, China. A structured questionnaire assessed teachers' knowledge of developmental dyslexia, attitudes toward affected students and self-efficacy in supporting them. Teachers generally lacked sufficient knowledge of dyslexia and held notable misconceptions about its causes and interventions. Many expressed uncertainty about their ability to support students with dyslexia and showed ambivalent attitudes regarding these students' potential for improvement. Correlation and regression analyses indicated that teachers' knowledge and attitudes were significantly associated with and positively predicted their self-efficacy in teaching students with dyslexia. These findings reveal significant gaps in teachers' knowledge and confidence related to dyslexia, which may hinder effective inclusive education. The results highlight the need for targeted teacher training and professional development to address misconceptions, foster positive attitudes and enhance self-efficacy, ultimately improving support for students with dyslexia in mainstream classrooms.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47222,"journal":{"name":"Dyslexia","volume":"32 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148200612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DyslexiaPub Date : 2026-06-04DOI: 10.1002/dys.70033
Sandra Romero, George K. Georgiou, Angeliki Altani, Athanassios Protopapas
{"title":"Examining the Serial Advantage in Fluent and Dysfluent Readers","authors":"Sandra Romero, George K. Georgiou, Angeliki Altani, Athanassios Protopapas","doi":"10.1002/dys.70033","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dys.70033","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We examined how the relation between serial and discrete reading/naming rate reveals cognitive processes that underlie reading fluency success and failure. Our sample included 87 children scoring above the 35th percentile (fluent readers) and 36 scoring below the 16th percentile (dysfluent readers) on a word-reading fluency test. All children were in Grade 3 and had adequate reading accuracy (standard score above the 25th percentile). The experimental tasks included serial and discrete reading of one-syllable, high-frequency words and serial and discrete digit naming. The results showed that all children performed better in the serial than the discrete naming/reading tasks. The fluent readers outperformed the dysfluent readers in all tasks. Moreover, among the fluent readers, serial reading was best predicted by serial naming. In contrast, serial reading was best predicted by discrete word reading among the dysfluent readers. Overall, the findings indicate that among readers with adequate accuracy, differences in fluency are associated with whether multiword reading aligns more strongly with serial naming or with individual word recognition, suggesting that dysfluent performance may reflect greater reliance on item-by-item processing and reduced efficiency in coordinating processing across successive words.</p>","PeriodicalId":47222,"journal":{"name":"Dyslexia","volume":"32 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/dys.70033","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148158474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DyslexiaPub Date : 2026-06-03DOI: 10.1002/dys.70034
Judi E. Dams, Eva van de Weijer-Bergsma, Sanne H. G. van der Ven, Elise H. de Bree, Jojanneke P. J. van der Beek
{"title":"Reading- and Spelling-Related Self-Concept, Emotions and Coping Strategies in Students With and Without Dyslexia","authors":"Judi E. Dams, Eva van de Weijer-Bergsma, Sanne H. G. van der Ven, Elise H. de Bree, Jojanneke P. J. van der Beek","doi":"10.1002/dys.70034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.70034","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Dyslexia can negatively affect attitudes such as self-concept, emotions and coping. Prior research has mainly focused on global academic self-concept and negative emotions, with limited focus on specific reading- and spelling-related self-concept, positive emotions and coping strategies. We examined the reading- and spelling-related attitudes of primary school students with (<i>n</i> = 90) and without (<i>n</i> = 1411) formally diagnosed dyslexia. Students were randomly assigned to fill out the Reading Attitudes Scales (<i>n</i> = 753) or the Spelling Attitudes Scales (<i>n</i> = 748), with which reading-/spelling-related self-concept, negative and positive emotions and (mal-)adaptive coping strategies were assessed. Findings showed that the attitudes of students with dyslexia towards reading and spelling differed from their peers without dyslexia. Students with dyslexia reported lower reading and spelling self-concept and less enjoyment of reading and spelling. For other attitudes, the patterns of findings diverged. For reading, students with dyslexia reported more anxiety and shame and more maladaptive coping than students without dyslexia. For spelling, students with dyslexia reported more worrying and rumination and support seeking. These findings call for more research into reading- and spelling-related attitudes and for integration of this information into diagnosis and intervention.</p>","PeriodicalId":47222,"journal":{"name":"Dyslexia","volume":"32 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/dys.70034","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148147115","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DyslexiaPub Date : 2026-04-01DOI: 10.1002/dys.70032
Cara T. Verwimp, Nelina Meiboom, Jurgen Tijms
{"title":"Short Report: Intervention of Reading and Spelling Problems in Children With Co-Occurring Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Dyslexia","authors":"Cara T. Verwimp, Nelina Meiboom, Jurgen Tijms","doi":"10.1002/dys.70032","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dys.70032","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Despite the high co-occurrence of dyslexia and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia is undertreated in children with ADHD. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether standard intervention for dyslexia is as effective for children with co-occurring ADHD and dyslexia as for those with dyslexia only. Children with co-occurring ADHD and dyslexia (<i>n</i> = 16), and with dyslexia only (<i>n</i> = 16) received a phonics-based intervention for dyslexia. Reading and spelling skills were tested at the start and at the end of intervention. Bayesian repeated-measures ANOVAs revealed that children in the co-occurring ADHD and dyslexia group had, on average, poorer levels of reading and spelling proficiency at the baseline. Intervention was equally effective in children with ADHD and dyslexia as it was in those with dyslexia only for reading fluency. For spelling, our results suggested stronger gains in the ADHD and dyslexia group than in the dyslexia only group. These results suggest that the effectiveness of intervention for dyslexia was not negatively affected by the presence of co-occurring ADHD.</p>","PeriodicalId":47222,"journal":{"name":"Dyslexia","volume":"32 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13042268/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147595530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}