Early Identification of Later Reading Disabilities

Identifying Risk Factors for Literacy Failures

Understanding Emergent and Early Literacy Development

• Importance of understanding typical development to identify impairments.

• Early spoken language features linked to later reading difficulty.

Matthew Effect (Stanovich, 1986)

• Concept: "the rich get richer, the poor get poorer" in literacy.

• Early reading difficulties lead to ongoing struggles.

• Weak phonological skills cause decoding errors, affecting fluency and persistence in reading.

Vocabulary Development (Duff, Tomblin, and Catts, 2015)

• Application of Matthew Effect to vocabulary growth.

• Above-average readers in 4th grade demonstrate higher vocabulary growth by 10th grade.

Comorbid Conditions (Nathan et al., 2004)

• Investigation of speech impairments affecting reading development.

• Higher risk of literacy delay in groups with speech and language disorders.

• Severe speech difficulties correlated with poorer literacy outcomes.

Early Language Deficits (Scarborough, 1990)

• Children with reading disabilities show delays in language at 30 months.

• Weaknesses in phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge by age 5.

Language Impairments (Catts et al., 2002)

• Children with language impairments scored lower in word recognition and reading comprehension.

• Letter identification is the best predictor of reading outcomes in kindergartners.

• Other contributing factors: grammar, nonverbal IQ, rapid naming, phonological awareness.