The author of "The Learning Mystique: A Critical Look at Learning Disabilities," responds to critical and supportive reactions (EC 220 147-152) concerning the relevance of cited issues, the role of language, heritability, scientific criteria, poor reading versus true dyslexia, and the promise of his proposed interactivity theory. (DB)

The mother of a son with dyslexia recounts her efforts to help him, by removing the "negatives and stress-makers" from his life, by breaking every piece of information into its smallest components, and by finding something at which he could really excel. Problems and successes during adolescence are recounted, as well as the son's initial year at…

In a simulation, the lesioning of a connectionist model that maps orthographic inputs onto semantic features produces several counterintuitive behaviors that are also shown by acquired-dyslexic patients. The similarity strengthens the suggestion that the connectionist approach captures a key aspect of human cognitive processing. (SLD)

This paper first examines views of developmental dyslexia in the 1960s and the 1970s; then discusses issues of the 1980s (e.g., the importance of verbal efficiency); and then projects to the 1990s the challenges of computer technology as mediated learning, "bounded rationality," and "collective rationality" in education. (DB)

The syntactic development of preschoolers (n=22) who later became disabled readers was compared to that of similar children who became normal readers. Expressive and receptive syntactic abilities were examined from age 30 to 60 months. The dyslexic group was poorer on all measures until age five, when both groups exhibited similar syntactic…

Presents case of adolescent student at residential program for chemically dependent adolescents who had dyslexia and attention deficit disorder. Explains features of attention deficit disorder with and without hyperactivity and discusses prevalence of attention deficit disorder in chemically dependent population. Explores diagnostic issues,…

This study assessed reading difficulties and cognitive impairments of German-speaking dyslexic children at grade levels two, three, and four. It was found that German dyslexic children suffered from a pervasive speed deficit for all types of reading tasks, including text, high frequency words, and psuedowords but, at the same time, showed…

This article on gifted children who have dyslexia or are at risk for school failure focuses on (1) effective individual and group discussion and counseling formats for school settings; and (2) the integration of all services into individualized programs for these children. (DB)

Describes the Dyslexia Early Screening Test (DEST) and the Cognitive Profiling System, both normed and designed to be administered to children four years and older. Reliability and validity of the tests are discussed, as well as their use to identify children at risk before they fail. (Author/CR)

An assessment of foundation processes was administered to 51 Scottish children with reading difficulties and to 56 reading-level-matched controls. Results suggested the foundation is in place by the reading age of 7 years and that foundation-level dyslexia is identifiable in children with reading difficulty whose reading ages fall below this…

A study of 30 Austrian children with dyslexia (grades 2-4) found that poor dual-task balancing was limited to children with higher attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) ratings and that children with dyslexia without higher ADHD performed as well on dual-task balancing as age-matched control children. (Author/CR)

Discusses two monolingual Spanish-speaking patients who were able to read words but showed great difficulty reading nonwords, a pattern of behavior known as phonological dyslexia. Contradicts the hypothesis that lexical reading is not an option for Spanish readers, because Spanish orthography is highly irregular, and supports the view that…

Because of the universal, phonological nature of writing systems, functional proficiency in decoding is essential if a child is to become literate. This is the heart of the problem for many dyslexics and many other disabled readers. The whole-language approach that eschews decoding is inappropriate in light of this fact. (MSE)

Discusses how Montessori principles and practices pertain specifically to the indirect and direct preparation of the child for writing and reading. The general principles are outlined first, followed by a specific discussion relating Montessori's approach to language instruction to current issues in reading disability. (CR)

Two groups of adolescents with language impairment (n=87) were compared with 20 adolescents with dyslexia, 19 aged-matched controls, and 18 younger typical children. Adolescents with dyslexia only performed as well as those with persistent oral language impairments and younger controls in reading and spelling, however, their reading comprehension…