A Descriptive Study of the Personality Difficulties of Nine Children With Reading Disabilities Under Study at the Bureau of Child Guidance of the Board of Education of New York City

Background of the Study. Since the beginning of the century great emphasis has been placed upon research into the field of causes of reading disabilities. Scores of studies of poor readers have been carried on which produced evidence that causes of reading retardation may be due to many factors. The fact that a child may fail to learn to read and yet be of adequate intelligence is receiving increasing attention from educators, psychologists, and psychiatrists. The Bureau of Child Guidance of the Board of Education of New York City is much concerned with the whole field of reading disabilities. Several workers have done research in this field, but the need for additional studies of the various causes of reading disabilities was recognized and presented to the students who are presently in field work placements at the Bureau as possible topics for research. The aspect of the topic selected by the writer grew out of an increasing awareness and interest in the number of youngsters who are referred to the Bureau as behavior problems and after psychological examination were found to have a serious reading disability