Category Archives: Research

Cognitive, linguistic deficits in kindergarten linked to dyslexia risk

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Rotem Yinon, Ph.D., from the Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities at the University of Haifa in Israel, and colleagues examined whether and to what extent deficits in four cognitive-linguistic domains in kindergarten estimate the risk for early- and late-emerging dyslexia (grades 1 and 4, respectively) in a prospective longitudinal cohort study. Measures, assessed in kindergarten, included phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, letter knowledge, and morphological awareness.

The study included 515 Hebrew-speaking children (mean age, 5.9 years). The researchers found that kindergarten deficits in letter knowledge and phonological awareness were associated with increased risk for dyslexia in grade 1 (odds ratios, 4.75 and 4.17, respectively). Deficits in letter knowledge, morphological awareness, and rapid automatized naming were associated with an increased risk for dyslexia in grade 4 (odds ratios, 3.57, 2.56, and 2.39, respectively), independent of risk in grade 1 (odds ratio, 4.98).

Read more HERE

Project announcement – Dyslexic adults in the workplace

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We are delighted to be working with M·E·L Research again, this time on a new study exploring the experiences of adults with dyslexia in the workplace. This research will build a deeper understanding of how dyslexia impacts working lives, with a particular focus on employment, inclusion and participation. The study will generate robust evidence to help inform future policy and practice, and will ensure that the voices of those living with dyslexia are at the heart of the work.

Read more HERE

Dyscalculia for Dyslexia tutors

Why Uneven Development Matters in Dyslexia

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  • Dyslexia often shows uneven abilities, with strong reasoning or language alongside reading difficulty.
  • Research shows IQ discrepancy should not determine who receives early reading intervention.
  • But those findings do not mean intelligence or cognitive strengths are irrelevant to dyslexia.
  • Education should identify and cultivate dyslexic students’ strengths while addressing reading challenges.

Read the full article HERE

Stanford Study Finds Evidence-Based Reading Intervention Physically Rewires the Dyslexic Brain

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Key findings include:

  • Children who received intervention improved their reading levels by approximately one grade level in eight weeks.
  • The Visual Word Form Area (VWFA), the brain region critical for fluent word recognition, grew larger and more detectable in students who received instruction.
  • The VWFA did not show comparable growth in students who received no instruction.
  • Some neurological differences persisted one year later, confirming that dyslexia reflects enduring brain traits alongside the brain’s capacity for change.

Read more about it HERE

Reading-specific region differs in the dyslexic brain, Stanford-led study finds

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Normally, as kids learn to read, the visual word form area develops within the visual cortex, a large region of the brain’s “gray matter” located at the back of the head. The VWFA is a small part of the left side of the brain — ranging from pea-sized to about the size of a dime — that lights up on functional magnetic resonance imaging scans of the brain while people are reading. It has two subregions, one that responds to the shapes of words, and another that also responds to their meanings

Read more HERE

Nearly every state in the US has dyslexia laws – but our research shows limited change for struggling readers

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Nearly every state in the U.S. passed some sort of dyslexia laws over the past decade. Most of these laws encourage or require schools to screen young children for reading difficulties, train teachers in evidence-based reading instruction and provide targeted support to students who show early signs of dyslexia.

Families of children with dyslexia, educators and dyslexia advocacy groups widely praised these laws. If schools could identify dyslexia early and respond with evidence-based instruction, reading outcomes would likely improve and fewer children would fall behind.

But what actually happened after these laws passed?

My colleagues and I examined nearly two decades of national student data to answer this question. The results tell a complicated story.

Read the full article HERE