Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

The purposes of this research project are (1) to test a theory which purports to identify the predictive antecedents (i.e., precursors) of developmental dyslexia (specific reading disability) several years before the disorder is clinically evident, and (2) to evaluate the mechanism which is postulated to underlie and influence later developmental changes in this disorder. The study focused on the predictive accuracy of a developmental-neuropsychological test battery which was given to a total population of white boys during kindergarten (1970) in order to forecast their reading achievement in subsequent years. The predictive accuracy of the test battery was determined by assessing reading in this population at the end of grades one, two, and three. The results revealed that performance on these tests during kindergarten was extremely predictive of the child's reading group membership in later grades, particularly with those children destined to become severely disabled or superior readers. These findings lend substantial support to the validity and utility of an early detection or warning system that could be administered economically before the child begins formal reading and at a time when he is less subject to the effects of academic failure. (RB)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert