Behavioral and brain evidence for language by ear, mouth, eye, and hand and motor skills in literacy learning.

Two studies were conducted of students with and without persisting Specific Learning Disabilities (SLDs-WL) in Grades 4 to 9 (M = 11 years, 11 months) that supported the hypotheses that CELF 4 parent ratings for listening (language by ear), speaking (language by mouth), reading (language by eye), and writing (language by hand) were correlated with both (a) normed, standardized behavioral measures of listening, speaking, reading, and writing achievement (Study 1, 94 boys and 61 girls); and (b) fMRI connectivity or DTI white matter integrity involving brain regions for primary motor functions or motor planning and control, or motor timing in a subsample of right handers who did not wear metal (Study 2, 28 boys and 16 girls). Results of these assessment studies, which have implications for planning instruction for three SLDs-WL (dysgraphia, dyslexia, and oral and written language learning disability [OWL LD]), show that more than multisensory instruction is relevant. Language by ear, by mouth, by eye, and by hand, as well as motor planning, control, and output skills and motor timing should also be considered. Research is also reviewed that supports other processes beyond multisensory input alone that should also be considered for students with SLDs-WL.

Gender differences in severity of writing and reading disabilities.

Gender differences in mean level of reading and writing skills were examined in 122 children (80 boys and 42 girls) and 200 adults (115 fathers and 85 mothers) who showed behavioral markers of dyslexia in a family genetics study. Gender differences were found in writing and replicated prior results for typically developing children: Boys and men were more impaired in handwriting and composing than were girls and women, but men, who were more impaired in those writing skills, were also more impaired in spelling than women. Men were more impaired than women in accuracy and rate of reading passages orally, but boys were not more impaired than girls on any of the reading measures. Males were consistently more impaired than females in orthographic skills, which may be the source of gender differences in writing, but not motor skills. Population-based studies that report gender differences in reading in children with dyslexia may be confounding reading and writing disorders--the latter being the true source of gender differences in both children and adults with dyslexia.

Writing problems in developmental dyslexia: under-recognized and under-treated.

The International Dyslexia Association defines dyslexia as unexpected problems of neurobiological origin in accuracy and rate of oral reading of single real words, single pseudowords, or text or of written spelling. However, prior research has focused more on the reading than the spelling problems of students with dyslexia. A test battery was administered to 122 children who met inclusion criteria for dyslexia and qualified their families for participation in a family genetics study that has been ongoing for over a decade. Their parents completed the same test battery. Although a past structural equation modeling study of typically developing children identified a significant path from handwriting to composition quality, the current structural equation modeling study identified a significant path from spelling to composition for children and their parents with dyslexia. Grapho-motor planning did not contribute uniquely to their composition, showing that writing is not just a motor skill. Students with dyslexia do have a problem in automatic letter writing and naming, which was related to impaired inhibition and verbal fluency, and may explain their spelling problems. Results are discussed in reference to the importance of providing explicit instruction in the phonological, orthographic, and morphological processes of spelling and in composition to students with dyslexia and not only offering accommodation for their writing problems.