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The purpose of the study was to design treatment programmes for various types of reading disorder in such a way as to allow a valid evaluation of their efficacy, i.e. in a way which allows specific treatment effects to be distinguished from non-specific treatment effects (e.g., the effects of attention from a helpful person), and from changes unrelated to treatment (e.g. spontaneous recovery). In particular, the intention was to investigate whether specific forms of therapeutic intervention help specific forms of disorder. Studies on five patients with different patterns of reading difficulty showed that specific treatment programmes were responsible for significant improvement in the patients' reading performance.

two common misconceptions There are two main common misconceptions: the first is that dyslexia's chief characteristic is difficulty with reading. This is very often not the case. An adult with dyslexia may be slightly slow in reading but otherwise competent. The chief characteristics of dyslexia in adulthood are weaknesses in phonology, auditory shortterm memory (working memory), and visual processing skills. These weaknesses stand in contrast to strong verbal reasoning abilities. The second is that dyspraxia in adulthood is characterised chiefly by poor motor coordination. This is also often not the case. Adults with dyspraxia often have improved their motor coordination skills over the years, and their chief difficulties in education and employment are more likely to be related to the cognitive aspects of dyspraxia, such as difficulty with sequencing and structuring information, organisational skills, time-keeping, and sometimes social skills.

The purpose of the study was to design treatment programmes for various types of reading disorder in such a way as to allow a valid evaluation of their efficacy. The study investigated whether specific forms of therapeutic intervention helped specific forms of disorder. Studies on five patients with different patterns of reading difficulty showed that specific treatment programmes were responsible for significant improvement in the patients' reading performance.

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