The development of reading speed in Italians with dyslexia: A longitudinalstudy

The development of reading speed in Italian children with dyslexia was esti mated using individualized growth curves for a group of 38 children with dy slexia tested longitudinally from the second to the eighth grade and compar ed with typical readers. Their reading speed development followed a linear trend of .3 Syllables per second per grade, approximately half the incremen t observed in typical children reading a passage and similar to typical chi ldren's reading of nonword lists. These findings give support to the defici t hypothesis versus the lag hypothesis and to reading speed as the core def icit in dyslexia with transparent orthographies.