ABSTRACT
Text-based reading treatments, such as Multiple Oral Rereading (MOR) and Oral Reading for Language in Aphasia (ORLA) have been used successfully to remediate reading impairments in individuals with acquired alexia, but the mechanisms underlying such improvements are not well understood. In this study, an individual with acquired alexia who demonstrated reliance on a sub-lexical reading strategy (i.e., presence of spelling regularity effect and phonologically plausible errors) underwent 12â weeks of text-based reading treatment combining MOR and ORLA procedures. Behavioural assessments of single-word and text reading, along with eye-tracking assessments were conducted pre-treatment, post-treatment and at 5â month follow-up. Improved reading fluency (rate, accuracy) was observed for both trained and untrained passages. Evidence from behavioural and eye-tracking assessment suggested text-based reading treatment facilitated use of a lexical-semantic reading strategy. Increased frequency and lexicality effects, as well as a shift in initial landing position towards the centre of the word (the "optimal viewing position") were observed at post-treatment and follow-up assessments. These results demonstrate the potential utility of using eye movements as a parameter of interest in addition to traditional behavioural outcomes when investigating response to reading treatment.