No abstract

Although CP phonological skills are related to dyslexia, there was no strong evidence for a cascade from CP to phonology to reading. Deficits in CP at the behavioral level are not directly associated with dyslexia.

Atypical language lateralization has been marked as one of the factors that may contribute to the development of dyslexia. Indeed, atypical lateralization of linguistic functions such as speech processing in dyslexia has been demonstrated using neuroimaging studies, but also using the behavioral dichotic listening (DL) method. However, so far, DL results have been mixed. The current study assesses lateralization of speech processing by using DL in a sample of children at familial risk (FR) for dyslexia. In order to determine whether atypical lateralization of speech processing relates to reading ability, or is a correlate of being at familial risk, the current study compares the laterality index of FR children who did and did not become dyslexic, and a control group of readers without dyslexia. DL was tested in 3rd grade and in 5/6th grade. Results indicate that at both time points, all three groups have a right ear advantage, indicative of more pronounced left-hemispheric processing. However, the FR-dyslexic children are less good at reporting from the left ear than controls and FR-nondyslexic children. This impediment relates to reading fluency.

Background Introduction: As a human being we give meaning to our stories, in relation to the social and physical context. For people with severe and complex mental health needs, who have been dependent on (intensive) residential psychiatric support for a long time, it is possible that talents and qualities disappear because this part of their identity has been buried under a long psychiatric history. This can result in people’s identity becoming limited to ‘patient’, and the experience of life as meaningless. Objectives For these service-users, few interventions aimed at personal recovery are available that match their cognitive and communicative skills. In this project, we developed a new psychosocial intervention to stimulate self-reflection and personal recovery. Methods The development of the intervention took place through a “user-centred-design process” (UCD). UCD is an iterative design process in which the needs and wishes of the user are the starting point, and they remain central in the product design circle. Throughout the whole design process, service users, significant others, mental health professionals, peer support workers, artists, and researchers collaborate in order to design a first testable prototype. For each step of design process, we organized focus group meetings and brainstorm sessions with all stakeholders as well as individual interviews with service users. Based on the input in these meetings and interviews, the design was adapted. This was done for each consecutive step, which made the whole design process iterative by nature. Results A new psychosocial intervention entitled “This Is Me” was developed as a “journey of discovery” through the lives of service users at both verbal and non-verbal levels. From the UCD process four basic principles underlying the intervention were disentangled that have been incorporated in the intervention: 1) “gaining new experiences”, 2) “attention for (self)stigma”, 3) “equal treatment as a person”, 4) “uniqueness of the individual”. This resulted in an intervention in which service-users, together with a teammate, engage in new experiences. Moreover, they are prompted to reflect on these experiences upon their return. With this process, we aim to support people in (re)discovering roles, talents and characteristics to broaden the identity from ‘patienthood’ to ‘personhood’. Discussion Conclusions: UCD was a useful method for the development of a new psychosocial intervention targeting identity for people with complex mental health needs. The process resulted into new knowledge about factors that are important in the (re)development of identity. In addition, we will present the first results of a pilot study in which we assessed the feasibility and effectiveness of the intervention.