Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

This study compared word recognition for words written in a traditional flat font to the same words written in a three-dimensional appearing font determined to create a right hemispheric stimulation. The participants were emergent readers enrolled in Montessori schools in the United States learning to read basic CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words and who were being taught with similar educational methodology. Analysis of error types for readers in the lower 20th percentile showed that vowel or consonant substitutions were more frequent for males than females (p less than 0.07), errors in which the students rhymed the word incorrectly with the previous word were more frequent in males (p less than 0.026), and word guessing errors were more frequent in older students (p less than 0.022). Letter/word transpositions (e.g., b/p; t/f; whole word, such as nap/pan were moderately more frequent for traditional flat print words (p less than 0.043). Among the 23 students who scored in the lowest 10th percentile (fewer than 42 out of 52 traditional flat print words read correctly), 9 increased their score by at least 10% in the three-dimensional appearing font when compared to their traditional flat print score; 5 of them increased by at least 20%. The largest improvement was from 35 traditional flat print words to 44 three-dimensional appearing prints, which translates to a 25.7% gain. For the student at risk for either a specific learning disability in reading or dyslexia, the use of three-dimensional font may provide enough a right hemispheric catalyst to increase the number of words recognized and read correctly. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

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)

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)