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Adults with dyslexia: how can they achieve academic success despite impairments in basic reading and writing abilities? The role of text structure sensitivity as a compensatory skill

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate (1) whether a sample of highly educated individuals with dyslexia living under optimal personal, educational, cultural, and socioeconomic conditions continues to display core deficits in reading and writing skills during adulthood (extending prior results in Dutch, English, Hebrew, and Spanish to the Portuguese writing system); (2) whether these individuals can compensate for the effects of persistent core deficits when reading complex academic texts; (3) which cognitive resources, such as reading strategies, are used as compensatory mechanisms; and (4) whether quality of life is affected in these individuals. These questions were examined in a sample of 28 adults with dyslexia (DG) and 28 control participants (CG) paired by sex, age, education, and occupation, with a mean of 15 years of formal education. Participants completed measures of phonological awareness; decoding of syllables, words, and pseudowords; writing; reading comprehension (inferential and literal questions, recall, and sensitivity to the rhetorical structure of the target text); and quality of life. Results showed that (1) core deficits associated with dyslexia persisted into adulthood: participants with dyslexia performed worse than control subjects at all levels of phonological awareness, reading (except word reading accuracy), and spelling; (2) the groups did not differ on any measures of reading comprehension, suggesting a compensation of core deficits; (3) three compensatory mechanisms were identified: slower reading, use of text structure, and verbal ability; (4) participants with dyslexia required more family support and professional help throughout their educational careers, and had more depressive symptoms than control subjects.

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Notes

  1. According to the procedure described by Diedenhofen and Musch (2015). Cocor: A comprehensive solution for the statistical comparison of correlations, PLoS ONE, 10(4), DOI:10.1371.

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Acknowledgments

This work would not have been possible without the cooperation of the following colleagues and their contributions to research planning and/or data collection: Dr. Jeanette Farina, Eriane Wainstein, Marta Santolin, Rosália Saraiva, Roberta Munarski, and Dr. Jerusa Salles. We also extend our sincere thanks to the team at the University of Salamanca who helped us with the discussion of our findings: Javier Rosales Pardo, José Ricardo García Pérez, José Orrantia, and Mercedes Rueda. Finally yet importantly, we would like to express our gratitude to our patients and to the participants in the control group for their support and for giving us their time.

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Moojen, S.M.P., Gonçalves, H.A., Bassôa, A. et al. Adults with dyslexia: how can they achieve academic success despite impairments in basic reading and writing abilities? The role of text structure sensitivity as a compensatory skill. Ann. of Dyslexia 70, 115–140 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-020-00195-w

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