Are Speech Sound Difficulties Risk Factors for Difficulties in Language and Reading Skills? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Children with speech sound difficulties often require educational psychology services, yet systematic reviews examining the association between these difficulties and language or reading problems are lacking. This meta-analysis examines whether these children are at higher risk of language and reading difficulties compared to their peers.

Method: The study analyzed 290 effect sizes from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies that compared language and reading skills between children with speech sound difficulties and controls.

The effects of book exposure and reading interest on oral language skills of children with and without a familial risk of dyslexia.

The potential role of home literacy environment (HLE) in children's language development has been widely studied. However, data on the HLE of children with familial risk (FR) of dyslexia are limited. In this longitudinal study, we examined (a) whether amount of book exposure and reading interest at age 4 were different in samples of Norwegian FR and no FR-children, respectively, (b) whether these home literacy-related factors exerted different effects depending on family-risk status on vocabulary and grammar skills at school entry age (6 years) and (c) whether they contributed independently to language outcomes at age 6, after controlling for the 4;6-year language skills.

School-entry language outcomes in late talkers with and without a family risk of dyslexia.

Children with familial risk (FR) of dyslexia and children with early language delay are known to be at risk for later language and literacy difficulties. However, research addressing long-term outcomes in children with both risk factors is scarce. This study tracked FR and No-FR children identified as late talkers at 2 years of age and reports development from 4;6 through 6 years.

Lexical and grammatical development in children at family risk of dyslexia from early childhood to school entry: a cross-lagged analysis.

The aim of this study was to examine (a) the development of vocabulary and grammar in children with family-risk (FR) of dyslexia and their peers with no such risk (NoFR) between ages 1;6 and 6;0, and (b) whether FR-status exerted an effect on the direction of temporal relationships between these two constructs. Groups were assessed at seven time-points using standardised tests and parental reports. Results indicated that although FR and NoFR children had a similar development in the earlier years, the FR group appeared to perform significantly more poorly on vocabulary at the end of the preschool period.

Evaluation of the psychometric properties of "the Norwegian screening test for dyslexia".

The aim of this study was to develop and investigate the psychometric properties of a screening protocol for Norwegian students in upper secondary school. The protocol was designed to assess skills that are at stake in dyslexia. It was administered to 232 students.

Developmental dyslexia in adults: behavioural manifestations and cognitive correlates.

This paper explores the nature of residual literacy and cognitive deficits in self-reported dyslexic Norwegian adults. The performance of 26 self-reported dyslexic adults was compared with that of a comparison group of 47 adults with no history of reading or spelling difficulties. Participants completed standardized and experimental measures tapping literacy skills, working memory, phonological awareness and rapid naming.

Early communicative gestures and play as predictors of language development in children born with and without family risk for dyslexia.

The present study investigated early communicative gestures, play, and language skills in children born with family risk for dyslexia (FR) and a control group of children without this inheritable risk at ages 12, 15, 18, and 24 months. Participants were drawn from the Tromsø Longitudinal study of Dyslexia (TLD) which follows children's cognitive and language development from age 12 months through Grade 2 in order to identify early markers of developmental dyslexia. Results showed that symbolic play and parent reported play at age 12 months and communicative gestures at age 15 months explained 61% of the variance in productive language at 24 months in the FR group.

Longitudinal case-studies of developmental dyslexia in Norwegian.

This study examined retrospectively the preschool cognitive and linguistic profiles and emergent literacy skills in four Norwegian dyslexic children. The aim was to identify prognostic indicators that were associated with the reading impairments observed in an earlier study of these children. In comparison to a control group of at-risk children who were normal readers at age 10, three of the four dyslexic children exhibited either stagnation or a decline in speech accuracy in the presence of a vocabulary growth spurt at age 2-3 years.

Developmental dyslexia in Norwegian: evidence from single-case studies.

This study provides detailed descriptions of the reading impairments in four 10-year-old Norwegian children with dyslexia. In all four cases reading comprehension was well in advance of the children's slow and inaccurate word-recognition skills. Phonological decoding (as assessed by pseudohomophone and nonword reading) appeared relatively unimpaired in three of the dyslexic cases, both in terms of speed and accuracy.