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Severe developmental language disorder — Reading and spelling

A longitudinal study of two non-identical twins

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Abstract

Linguistic awareness i.e. the ability to identify phonemes, to segment words into syllables and to rhyme is highly correlated with reading/spelling proficiency. Children with severe developmental language disorders DLD (syntagmatic type) have been shown to specifically lack linguistic awareness. Two non-identical twin boys with severe, specific DLD were studied longitudinally with respect to their linguistic, neurolinguistic and pragmatic development. In spite of poor linguistic awareness, the boys acquired normal reading/spelling skills. This might be due to the early and massive language training they were given. However, the boys differ considerably in some aspects of reading and spelling performance. These findings are discussed with reference to their different neurolinguistic and pragmatic profiles.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Logopedics and Phoniatrics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Birgitta Sahlén, Eva Wigforss & Ulrika Nettelbladt

Authors
  1. Birgitta Sahlén
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  2. Eva Wigforss
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  3. Ulrika Nettelbladt
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Sahlén, B., Wigforss, E. & Nettelbladt, U. Severe developmental language disorder — Reading and spelling. Read Writ 2, 269–295 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00419384

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