Heterogeneous deficits in young adults with dyslexia

This study investigated multimodal deficits in a sample of high functioning young adults with dyslexia and a sample of IQ and age-matched controls. The primary aim was to address the validity of the main theories of dyslexia. A secondary aim was to identify some of the potential distal and proximal factors that affect the development of reading. The study was spilt up into three parts according to area of function; cognitive, motor, visual and auditory. The group results revealed that the dyslexia sample exhibited marked deficits, relative to the controls, in all areas of function. Furthermore, there was a pattern suggesting poorer attention, psychosocial function, and a greater occurrence of medical risk factors within the dyslexia group. Group results were unable to show the proportion of the dyslexia group who experience a given deficit, therefore, a multiple case study analysis was adopted. Out of the 26 experimental participants, who showed a phonological deficit, 21 exhibited 2 or more additional sensory and/ or motor deficits; 1 additional deficit was shown by the remaining 5 participants. Additional deficits appear to be the norm rather than the exception. There are also 4 participants in the dyslexia group who did not show any phonological deficits. It would appear that each of the main theories is supported by these results. The phonological deficit hypothesis currently takes precedence within dyslexia research, however, it may be helpful to look beyond proximal deficits and adopt a more holistic approach. Rather than searching for discrete linear relationships, perhaps a framework for developmental disorders should encompass a number of direct and indirect features in order to better reflect the data at hand. For example, primary reflex persistence was strongly implicated in the current results- this is unlikely to be directly related to reading, hence it warrants further investigationEThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo