What are the cognitive‐linguistic profiles and subtypes of Chinese adolescents with dyslexia?

Abstract

While research has identified multiple deficits that may lead to dyslexia, the profiles of adolescents with dyslexia and dyslexia subtypes are yet fully understood. This study examined the profiles of Chinese adolescents with dyslexia and identified dyslexia subtypes. Adolescents from grades 7 to 9 (n = 184, 92 with dyslexia) were evaluated on morphological skills, visual‐orthographic knowledge, rapid naming, working memory, word reading, word spelling, reading fluency and reading comprehension. The results revealed that adolescents with dyslexia performed less well on the cognitive‐linguistic and literacy measures than typically developing adolescents. A logistic regression analysis also showed that morphological skills, visual‐orthographic knowledge and rapid naming were significantly predictive of dyslexia status. Using cluster analysis and guided by the multiple deficit hypothesis, this study identified four dyslexia subtypes: morphological deficit, visual‐orthographic knowledge deficit, rapid naming deficit and global deficit showing multiple cognitive‐linguistic and literacy problems. Understanding the profiles and subtypes of dyslexia could enable educational psychologists and educators to select appropriate assessment measures and develop intervention strategies to support the learning of Chinese adolescents with dyslexia.

Technical adequacy of measuring teachers' knowledge of dyslexia

“…The complex and multifaceted nature of reading is reflected in the heterogeneity of children's skill profiles. For example, students identified with dyslexia exist along a continuum of ability with various sources and manifestations of their language, learning, and information‐processing difficulties (Chan et al, 2023; Huettig et al, 2018; Parrila et al, 2020; Snowling et al, 2020). Thus, despite dyslexia being heavily researched, it often remains misunderstood among educators who bear the responsibility for recognizing children with characteristics of dyslexia and meeting their individual instructional needs (Knight, 2018).…”