Objective: To investigate the effects of spectral overlays on reading performance of Brazilian elementary school children. Methods: Sixty-eight children (aged 9–12 years) enrolled in the 5th and 6th grade were included in the study. The Rate of Reading Test (RRT – Brazilian Portuguese version) was used to evaluate reading speed and the Irlen Reading Perceptual Scale was used to allocate the sample according to reading difficulty/discomfort symptoms and to define the optimal spectral overlays. Results: A total of 13% of the children presented an improvement of at least 15% in reading speed with the use of spectral overlays. Pupils with severe reading difficulties tended to have more improvement in RRT with spectral overlays. Children with severe reading discomfort obtained the highest gains in RRT, with an average of 9.6% improvement with intervention, compared to a decrease of –8.2% in the control group. Participants with severe discomfort had an odds ratio of 3.36 to improve reading speed with intervention compared to the control group. Conclusion: The use of spectral overlays can improve reading performance, particularly in those children with severe visual discomfort.

RESUMOO aprendizado da leitura da língua portuguesa por surdos tem atraído estudiosos da área em virtude do fraco desempenho nessa habilidade apresentado pela maioria desses indivíduos. Este trabalho tem como objetivo principal averiguar se o uso da leitura labial e/ou da oralização como complemento à Língua Brasileira de Sinais (Libras) pode auxiliar no processo de aprendizagem da leitura do português. Trinta e sete surdos profundos, da comunidade surda brasileira, cursando do 7º ano do ensino fundamental ao 1º ano do ensino médio e com idade entre 12 e 18 anos, foram submetidos às Matrizes Progressivas de Raven, a uma entrevista semiestruturada e a dois testes de leitura. Todos os participantes são usuários da Libras, e 57% a complementam com meios alternativos de comunicação. Nossos dados sugerem que o desenvolvimento de habilidades como a leitura labial e a oralização facilitam o processo de leitura.PALAVRAS-CHAVE oralização; leitura labial; educação de surdos; avaliação da leitura de surdos.

Purpose: to verify whether students screened with altered auditory temporal processing are more likely to present altered visual processing. Methods: the sample consisted of 68 children, aged from 9 to 12 years, 53% males, from the 5th and 6th grades of a public school. All children with alterations in the audiological or ophthalmological evaluation were excluded. The Duration Pattern Test (screening for auditory temporal skill), the Reading Perceptual Scale (visual stress symptom questionnaire and colored overlays selection) and the Rate of Reading Test (number of words correctly read per minute) were used. Appropriate statistical tests were applied adopting the significance level lower than 0.05. Results: participants screened with abnormal auditory processing had higher visual stress symptoms and lower reading rate, with a significant and moderate effect (p< 0.05; d< 0.71), when compared to their peers with normal auditory processing. Among the children with altered Duration Pattern Test, 58% improved the reading rate with the use of colored overlays, whereas 29% did so in the control group (Odds Ratio = 3.4, p = 0.017). Conclusion: children screened with altered auditory temporal processing presented a three times higher possibility of association with visual processing alterations, due to shared magnocellular system.

Our aim was to analyse the linguistic structure of the Lobrot's Lecture 3 (L3) reading test and to describe the procedure for its adaptation to a Brazilian cultural-linguistic context. The resulting adapted version is called the Reading Test-Sentence Comprehension [Teste de Leitura: Compreensão de Sentenças (TELCS)] and was developed using the European Portuguese adaptation of L3 as a reference. The present study was conducted in seven steps: (1) classification of the response alternatives of L3 test; (2) adaptation of the original sentences into Brazilian Portuguese; (3) back-translation; (4) adaptation of the distractors from TELCS; (5) configuration of TELCS; (6) pilot study; and (7) validation and standardization. In comparison with L3, TELCS included new linguistic and structural variables, such as frequency of occurrence of the distractors, gender neutrality and position of the target words. The instrument can be used for a collective screening or individual clinical administration purposes to evaluate the reading ability of second-to-fifth-grade and 7-to-11-year-old students.

The test called ‘Reading Test: Sentence Comprehension (TELCS)’ has been validated and standardized. Participants (N = 1289, 2nd to 5th grade, 7 to 11-years-old) were stratified in 15 state-schools in Brazil. The TELCS demonstrated reliability and validity to classify reading performance by both school grade and chronological age. Correlations between the TELCS and a General Reading Composite score were high, as were those with reading accuracy rates of word and pseudoword. Cluster analysis suggested a five-class solution: reading disability, below, average, above, and high reading performance. For individual or collective use, TELCS can quickly screen the sentence reading ability, useful to identify those who might need additional support.