DO DYSLEXIC AND OTHER POOR READERS DIFFER IN READING-RELATED COGNITIVE SKILLS

The rationale for the study was that if dyslexic and garden-variety po or readers differ in reading-related cognitive skills, there is justif ication for believing dyslexia to be a distinct entity. Subjects were 110 children aged 6 to 10 years, divided into groups of dyslexic poor readers varying in verbal IQ, garden-variety poor readers, and good re aders. Findings suggest that there are valid grounds for believing tha t dyslexia is a separate entity from garden-variety poor reading, and that it is found among children at all verbal IQ levels. Poor phonolog ical awareness and nonword reading, in relation to normal readers, wer e shared by dyslexic and garden-variety poor readers. Deficits unique to dyslexic poor readers were problems in both automatic visual recogn ition and phonological recoding of graphic stimuli. The study supports the phonological-core variable-difference model of Stanovich (1988) i n that both dyslexic and garden-variety poor readers showed phonologic al processing deficits, but they were more extensive in dyslexics.