Reading is Hard just because Listening is Easy

In their work on reading and the difficulties that attend it. investigators have commonly omitted to ask the questions that are. in my view, prior to all others: why is it easier to perceive speech than to read, and why is it easier to speak a word than to spell it? My aim is to repair these omissions. To that end, I divide my talk into two parts. First, I say why we should consider that the greater ease of perceiving and producing speech is paradoxical, by which I mean to suggest that the reasons are not to be found among surface appearances. Then I propose how, by going beneath the surface, we can find the reasons, and so resolve the paradox. THE PARADOX Before developing the paradox. I should first remind you that perceiving and produCing speech are easier than reading or writing. for thiS is the point from which I depart and to which I will. at the end. return. The relevant facts include the following. (1) All communities of human beings have a fully developed spoken language; in contrast. only a minority of these languages has a written form. and not all of these are in common use. (2) Speech is first in the history of the race, as it is in the child; readin

Awareness of phonological segments and reading ability in Italian children

APPLIED PSYCHOLINGUISTIC

A importância da equipe interdisciplinar no diagnóstico de dislexia do desenvolvimento: relato de caso The importance of interdisciplinary staff in the diagnosis of developmental dyslexia: case report

Descrevemos o trabalho de uma equipe interdisciplinar da FCM/UNICAMP na avaliação de um menino de 9 anos e 3 meses aluno de escola pública de Campinas, com dislexia do desenvolvimento. O procedimento constou de 4 fases: 1) anamnese com a mãe; 2) avaliação neuropsicológica; 3) avaliação específica de leitura e escrita; 4) exames complementares. Os resultados das várias avaliações revelaram que o menino apresenta inteligência normal, ausência de déficit auditivo ou visual mas dificuldades em provas específicas de leitura, em memória de curto prazo (especialmente em sequências auditivas) e em consciência fonológica, além de lentidão, falta de concentração, sinais neurológicos menores e hipoperfusão da porção mesial do lobo temporal. Esses dados sugeriram que a criança apresenta dislexia do desenvolvimento do tipo misto, necessitando de intervenção psicopedagógica.<br>We describe the work of the interdisciplinary staff of FCM/UNICAMP for the diagnosis of developmental dyslexia, evaluating a 9 years old boy from the second year of a first grade public school. The procedure consisted of four stages: 1) Interview with the mother (anamnesis); 2) neuropsychological evaluation; 3) specific evaluation for reading and writing skills; 4) complementary exams. The results revealed that the child presented normal intelligence, normal auditory and visual function but difficulties in reading specific test, in auditory short-term memory (specially in auditory sequences), and in phonological conscience, as well as slowness, lack of concentration, slight neurological signs and hypoperfusion of the mesial portion of the temporal lobe. These data suggest that the child has developmental dyslexia of mixed type, requiring psychopedagogic follow-up