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Different studies have suggested that language and developmental disorders such as dyslexia are associated with a disturbance of auditory entrainment and of the functional hemispheric asymmetries during speech processing. These disorders typically result from an issue in the phonological component of language that causes problems to represent and manipulate the phonological structure of words at the syllable and/or phoneme level. We used Auditory Steady-State Responses (ASSRs) in EEG recordings to investigate the brain activation and hemisphere asymmetry of theta, alpha, beta and low-gamma range oscillations in typical readers and readers with dyslexia. The aim was to analyse whether the group differences found in previous electrode level studies were caused by a different source activation pattern or conversely was an effect that could be found on the active brain sources. We could not find differences in the brain locations of the main active brain sources. However, we observed differences in the extracted waveforms. The group average of the first DSS component of all signal-to-noise ratios of ASSR at source level were higher than the group averages at the electrode level. These analyses included a lower alpha synchronisation in adolescents with dyslexia and the possibility of compensatory mechanisms in theta, beta and low-gamma frequency bands. The main brain auditory sources were located in cortical regions around the auditory cortex. Thus, the differences observed in auditory EEG experiments would, according to our findings, have their origin in the intrinsic oscillatory mechanisms of the brain cortical sources related to speech perception.

This study reports on the effects of a 1-year parental involvement intervention on reading development of primary school children. The intervention included a teacher and parent training, focusing on teacher-parent communication and parental involvement in homework and reading at home. We used a cluster randomized controlled trial design with pre-, post- and follow-up measurements to evaluate the intervention. Participants were 600 second grade children (n ¼ 264 in the intervention group, n ¼ 336 in the control group), with their parents and teachers from 24 schools in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. A hierarchical linear model, which assessed children’s reading growth across three time points, demonstrated that compared to children in the control condition, children in the intervention condition made significantly more progress in decoding skills, reading fluency and reading comprehension from pre- to post-intervention, and from pre-intervention to follow-up (8–9 months after the intervention). We discuss the usefulness of this intervention in helping children who are at risk for reading problems in primary school. ispartof: Journal Of Research On Educational Effectiveness vol:14 issue:4 pages:1-22 status: Published online

Developmental dyslexia is most commonly associated with phonological processing difficulties. However, children with dyslexia may experience poor speech-in-noise perception as well. Although there is an ongoing debate whether a speech perception deficit is inherent to dyslexia or acts as an aggravating risk factor compromising learning to read indirectly, improving speech perception might boost reading-related skills and reading acquisition. In the current study, we evaluated advanced speech technology as applied in auditory prostheses, to promote and eventually normalize speech perception of school-aged children with dyslexia, i.e., envelope enhancement (EE). The EE strategy automatically detects and emphasizes onset cues and consequently reinforces the temporal structure of the speech envelope. Our results confirmed speech-in-noise perception difficulties by children with dyslexia. However, we found that exaggerating temporal "landmarks" of the speech envelope (i.e., amplitude rise time and modulations)-by using EE-passively and instantaneously improved speech perception in noise for children with dyslexia. Moreover, the benefit derived from EE was large enough to completely bridge the initial gap between children with dyslexia and their typical reading peers. Taken together, the beneficial outcome of EE suggests an important contribution of the temporal structure of the envelope to speech perception in noise difficulties in dyslexia, providing an interesting foundation for future intervention studies based on auditory and speech rhythm training.

Different studies have suggested that during speech processing readers with dyslexia present atypical levels of neural entrainment as well as atypical functional hemispherical asymmetries in comparison with typical readers. In this study, we evaluated these differences in children and the variation with age before and after starting with formal reading instruction. Synchronized neural auditory processing activity was quantified based on auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) from EEG recordings. The stimulation was modulated at syllabic and phonemic fluctuation rates present in speech. We measured the brain activation patterns and the hemispherical asymmetries in children at three age points (5, 7, and 9 years old). Despite the well-known heterogeneity during developmental stages, especially in children and in dyslexia, we could extract meaningful common oscillatory patterns. The analyses included (1) the estimations of source localization, (2) hemispherical preferences using a laterality index, measures of neural entrainment, (3) signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), and (4) connectivity using phase coherence measures. In this longitudinal study, we confirmed that the existence of atypical levels of neural entrainment and connectivity already exists at pre-reading stages. Overall, these measures reflected a lower ability of the dyslectic brain to synchronize with syllabic rate stimulation. In addition, our findings reinforced the hypothesis of a later maturation of the processing of beta rhythms in dyslexia. This investigation emphasizes the importance of longitudinal studies in dyslexia, especially in children, where neural oscillatory patterns as well as differences between typical and atypical developing children can vary in the span of a year. ispartof: Frontiers In Computational Neuroscience vol:16 pages:1-15 ispartof: location:Switzerland status: published

Diffusion-weighted imaging studies have repeatedly shown that white matter correlates with reading throughout development. However, the neurobiological interpretation of this relationship is constrained by the limited microstructural specificity of diffusion imaging. A critical component of white matter microstructure is myelin, which can be investigated noninvasively using MRI. Here, we examined the link between myelin water fraction (MWF) and reading ability in 10-year-old children (n = 69). To better understand this relationship, we additionally investigated how these two variables relate to fractional anisotropy (FA; a common index of diffusion-weighted imaging). Our analysis revealed that lower MWF coheres with better reading scores in left-hemispheric tracts relevant for reading. While we replicated previous reports on a positive relationship between FA and MWF, we did not find any evidence for an association between reading and FA. Together, these findings contrast previous research suggesting that poor reading abilities might be rooted in lower myelination and emphasize the need for further longitudinal research to understand how this relationship evolves throughout reading development. Altogether, this study contributes important insights into the role of myelin-related processes in the relationship between reading and white matter structure.

BACKGROUND Enjoyment plays a key role in the success and feasibility of serious gaming interventions. Unenjoyable games will not be played, and in the case of serious gaming, learning will not occur. Therefore, a so-called GameFlow model has been developed, which intends to guide (serious) game developers in the process of creating and evaluating enjoyment in digital (serious) games. Regarding language learning, a variety of serious games targeting specific language components exist in the market, albeit often without available assessments of enjoyment or feasibility. OBJECTIVE This study evaluates the enjoyment and feasibility of a tablet-based, serious story-listening game for kindergarteners, developed based on the principles of the GameFlow model. This study also preliminarily explores the possibility of using the game to foster language comprehension. METHODS Within the framework of a broader preventive reading intervention, 91 kindergarteners aged 5 years with a cognitive risk for dyslexia were asked to play the story game for 12 weeks, 6 days per week, either combined with a tablet-based phonics intervention or control games. The story game involved listening to and rating stories and responding to content-related questions. Game enjoyment was assessed through postintervention questionnaires, a GameFlow-based evaluation, and in-game story rating data. Feasibility was determined based on in-game general question response accuracy (QRA), reflecting the difficulty level, attrition rate, and final game exposure and training duration. Moreover, to investigate whether game enjoyment and difficulty influenced feasibility, final game exposure and training duration were predicted based on the in-game initial story ratings and initial QRA. Possible growth in language comprehension was explored by analyzing in-game QRA as a function of the game phase and baseline language skills. RESULTS Eventually, data from 82 participants were analyzed. The questionnaire and in-game data suggested an overall enjoyable game experience. However, the GameFlow-based evaluation implied room for game design improvement. The general QRA confirmed a well-adapted level of difficulty for the target sample. Moreover, despite the overall attrition rate of 39% (32/82), 90% (74/82) of the participants still completed 80% of the game, albeit with a large variation in training days. Higher initial QRA significantly increased game exposure (β=.35; Pβ=−0.16; P=.003). In-game QRA was positively predicted by game phase (β=1.44; P=.004), baseline listening comprehension (β=1.56; P=.002), and vocabulary (β=.16; P=.01), with larger QRA growth over game phases in children with lower baseline listening comprehension skills (β=−0.08; P=.04). CONCLUSIONS Generally, the story game seemed enjoyable and feasible. However, the GameFlow model evaluation and predictive relationships imply room for further game design improvements. Furthermore, our results cautiously suggest the potential of the game to foster language comprehension; however, future randomized controlled trials should further elucidate the impact on language comprehension.

Dyslexia has frequently been related to atypical auditory temporal processing and speech perception. Results of studies emphasizing speech onset cues and reinforcing the temporal structure of the speech envelope, that is, envelope enhancement (EE), demonstrated reduced speech perception deficits in individuals with dyslexia. The use of this strategy as auditory intervention might thus reduce some of the deficits related to dyslexia. Importantly, reading-skill interventions are most effective when they are provided during kindergarten and first grade. Hence, we provided a tablet-based 12-week auditory and phonics-based intervention to pre-readers at cognitive risk for dyslexia and investigated the effect on auditory temporal processing with a rise time discrimination (RTD) task. Ninety-one pre-readers at cognitive risk for dyslexia (aged 5-6) were assigned to two groups receiving a phonics-based intervention and playing a story listening game either with (n = 31) or without (n = 31) EE or a third group playing control games and listening to non-enhanced stories (n = 29). RTD was measured directly before, directly after and 1 year after the intervention. While the groups listening to non-enhanced stories mainly improved after the intervention during first grade, the group listening to enhanced stories improved during the intervention in kindergarten and subsequently remained stable during first grade. Hence, an EE intervention improves auditory processing skills important for the development of phonological skills. This occurred before the onset of reading instruction, preceding the maturational improvement of these skills, hence potentially giving at risk children a head start when learning to read. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0BfT4dGXNA. ispartof: Developmental Science vol:25 issue:3 ispartof: location:England status: Published online

Dyslexia is targeted most effectively when (1) interventions are provided preventively, before the onset of reading instruction, and (2) remediation programs combine letter-sound training with phoneme blending. Given the growing potential of technology in educational contexts, there has been a considerable increase of letter-sound trainings embedded in digital serious games. One such intervention is GraphoGame. Yet, current evidence on the preventive impact of GraphoGame is limited by the lack of adaptation of the original learning content to the skills of pre-readers, short training duration, and a restricted focus on explicitly trained skills. Therefore, the current study aims at investigating the impact of a preventive, and pre-reading adapted GraphoGame training (i.e., GraphoGame-Flemish, GG-FL) on explicitly trained skills and non-specifically trained phonological and language abilities. Following a large-scale screening (N = 1225), the current study included 88 pre-reading kindergarteners at cognitive risk for dyslexia who were assigned to three groups training either with GG-FL (n = 31), an active control game (n = 29), or no game (n = 28). Before and after the 12-week intervention, a variety of reading-related skills were assessed. Moreover, receptive letter knowledge and phonological awareness were measured every three weeks during the intervention period. Results revealed significantly larger improvements in the GG-FL group on explicitly trained skills, i.e., letter knowledge and word decoding, without finding transfer-effects to untrained phonological and language abilities. Our findings imply a GG-FL-driven head start on early literacy skills in at-risk children. A follow-up study should uncover the long-term impact and the ability of GG-FL to prevent actual reading failure.

In recent studies phonological deficits in dyslexia are related to a deficit in the synchronization of neural oscillations to the dynamics of the speech envelope. The temporal features of both amplitude modulations and rise times characterize the speech envelope. Previous studies uncovered the inefficiency of the dyslexic brain to follow different amplitude modulations in speech. However, it remains to be investigated how the envelope's rise time mediates this neural processing. In this study we examined neural synchronization in students with and without dyslexia using auditory steady-state responses at theta, alpha, beta and low-gamma range oscillations (i.e., 4, 10, 20 and 40 Hz) to stimuli with different envelope rise times. Our results revealed reduced neural synchronization in the alpha, beta and low-gamma frequency ranges in dyslexia. Moreover, atypical neural synchronization was modulated by rise time for alpha and beta oscillations, showing that deficits found at 10 and 20 Hz were only evident when the envelope's rise time was significantly shortened. This impaired tracking of rise time cues may very well lead to the speech and phonological processing difficulties observed in dyslexia.

Recent prereading evidence demonstrates that white matter alterations are associated with dyslexia even before the onset of reading instruction. At the same time, remediation of reading difficulties is suggested to be most effective when provided as early as kindergarten, yet evidence is currently lacking on the early neuroanatomical changes associated with such preventive interventions. To address this open question, we investigated white matter changes following early literacy intervention in Dutch-speaking prereaders (aged 5-6 years) with an increased cognitive risk for developing dyslexia. Diffusion-weighted images were acquired before and after a 12-week digital intervention in three groups: (i) at-risk children receiving phonics-based training (n = 31); (ii) at-risk children engaging with active control training (n = 25); and (iii) typically developing children (n = 27) receiving no intervention. Following automated quantification of white matter tracts relevant for reading, we first examined baseline differences between at-risk and typically developing children, revealing bilateral dorsal and ventral differences. Longitudinal analyses showed that white matter properties changed within the course of the training; however, the absence of intervention-specific results suggests that these changes rather reflect developmental effects. This study contributes important first insights on the neurocognitive mechanisms of intervention that precedes formal reading onset. ispartof: Cerebral Cortex vol:32 issue:21 pages:1-14 ispartof: location:United States status: Published online

The visual word form area (VWFA) plays a significant role in the development of reading skills. However, the developmental course and anatomical properties of the VWFA have only limitedly been investigated. The aim of the current longitudinal MRI study was to investigate dynamic, bidirectional relations between reading and the structure of the left fusiform gyrus at the early-to-advanced reading stage. More specifically, by means of bivariate correlations and a cross-lagged panel model (CLPM), the interrelations between the size of the left fusiform gyrus and reading skills (a composite score of a word and pseudo-word reading task) were studied in a longitudinal cohort of 43 Flemish children (29M, 14F) with variable reading skills in grade 2 (the early stage of reading) and grade 5 (the advanced stage of reading) of primary school. Results revealed that better reading skills at grade 2 lead to a larger size of the left fusiform gyrus at grade 5, whereas there are no directional effects between the size of the left fusiform gyrus at grade 2 and reading skills at grade 5. Hence, according to our results there is behavior-driven brain plasticity and no brain-driven reading change between the early and advanced stage of reading. Together with pre-reading brain studies showing predictive relations to later reading scores, our results suggest that the direction of brain-behavioral influences changes throughout the course of reading development.

The visual word form area (VWFA) plays a significant role in the development of reading skills. However, the developmental course and anatomical properties of the VWFA have only limitedly been investigated. The aim of the current longitudinal MRI study was to investigate dynamic, bidirectional relations between reading, and the structure of the left fusiform gyrus at the early-to-advanced reading stage. More specifically, by means of bivariate correlations and a cross-lagged panel model (CLPM), the interrelations between the size of the left fusiform gyrus and reading skills (an average score of a word and pseudo-word reading task) were studied in a longitudinal cohort of 43 Flemish children (29M, 14F) with variable reading skills in grade 2 (the early stage of reading) and grade 5 (the advanced stage of reading) of primary school. Results revealed that better reading skills at grade 2 lead to a larger size of the left fusiform gyrus at grade 5, whereas there are no directional effects between the size of the left fusiform gyrus at grade 2 and reading skills at grade 5. Hence, according to our results, there is behavior-driven brain plasticity and no brain-driven reading change between the early and advanced stage of reading. Together with pre-reading brain studies showing predictive relations to later reading scores, our results suggest that the direction of brain-behavioral influences changes throughout the course of reading development.

Integrating AI into educational applications can have an enormous benefit for users (players/children) and educational professionals. The concept of customisation based on user preferences and abilities is not new. However, in this paper the abilities of the players of a literacy skill application are being collated and categorized, so that in the future they can automatically offer the next instructional level without external manual support. The app Karaton has been designed in such a way that there is a presumption of competence and no child should feel a failure or need to wait to be told that they can try a higher level. It has been found that this improves self-confidence and encourages independent literacy skills.

In Tanzania, the education system focuses on schools and teachers as key educators of children, while little attention is paid to the home environment. This study examines motivational fact...

Statistical learning has been proposed to underlie the developmental transition during infancy from allophonic to phonemic speech sound perception. Based on this, it can be hypothesized that in dyslexic individuals, core phonemic representation deficits arise from reduced sensitivity to the statistical distribution of sounds. This study aims to investigate (a) whether statistical learning contributes to the construction of phonemic representations in typical readers, and (b) whether deficits in statistical learning underlie dyslexia. Fifty-eight children performed an identification task of a non-native phonetic contrast, before and after exposure to the sounds of the continuum. Our results suggest that the statistical distribution of the presented sounds implicitly enhanced the formation of phonemic representations and that dyslexic readers make less use of the statistical cues embedded in oral language, resulting in less distinct phonemic categories and thus a higher risk for failing to establish robust connections between these and written language.

Although symbolic numerical magnitude processing skills are key for learning arithmetic, their developmental trajectories remain unknown. Therefore, we delineated during the first 3years of primary education (5-8years of age) groups with distinguishable developmental trajectories of symbolic numerical magnitude processing skills using a model-based clustering approach. Three clusters were identified and were labeled as inaccurate, accurate but slow, and accurate and fast. The clusters did not differ in age, sex, socioeconomic status, or IQ. We also tested whether these clusters differed in domain-specific (nonsymbolic magnitude processing and digit identification) and domain-general (visuospatial short-term memory, verbal working memory, and processing speed) cognitive competencies that might contribute to children's ability to (efficiently) process the numerical meaning of Arabic numerical symbols. We observed minor differences between clusters in these cognitive competencies except for verbal working memory for which no differences were observed. Follow-up analyses further revealed that the above-mentioned cognitive competencies did not merely account for the cluster differences in children's development of symbolic numerical magnitude processing skills, suggesting that other factors account for these individual differences. On the other hand, the three trajectories of symbolic numerical magnitude processing revealed remarkable and stable differences in children's arithmetic fact retrieval, which stresses the importance of symbolic numerical magnitude processing for learning arithmetic.

Working memory is important for a variety of life domains,. including for children's school functioning. As such, it is crucial to understand its development, antecedents and consequences. The current study investigates the development of different working memory components (phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, central executive), the influence of different aspects of the teacher-student relationship (closeness, conflict, dependency) and its predictive value for academic achievement (reading, spelling, mathematics) across the transition from kindergarten to first grade. The sample consisted of 107 kindergarten children. Working memory tasks were administered at the end of kindergarten and first grade. Teachers reported on teacher-student relationship quality in the middle of first grade. Standardized tests were used to assess academic achievement at the end of first grade. Results indicate moderate to large increases in the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad and large gains in the central executive. Dependency of the student towards the teacher significantly predicted visuospatial sketchpad performance at the end of first grade. Reading was significantly predicted by the visuospatial sketchpad and phonological loop in kindergarten, while for spelling the visuospatial sketchpad was important. Finally, mathematics was predicted by performance on the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad. The current study indicates the importance of the affective quality of the teacher-student relationship for working memory performance, which in turn is important for academic achievement. It is therefore critical to attend to the early detection and prevention or intervention of working memory problems in the classroom in order to prevent future academic problems. Additionally, maintaining a positive relationship with students and encouraging their independent exploration may be important when preventing such problems, complementary to cognitive or other types of training and intervention.

Although the neural basis of dyslexia has intensively been investigated, results are still unclear about the existence of a white matter deficit in the arcuate fasciculus (AF) throughout development. To unravel this ambiguity, we examined the difference in fractional anisotropy (FA) of the AF between children developing dyslexia and children developing typical reading skills in a longitudinal sample with three MRI time points throughout reading development: the pre-reading stage (5–6 years old), the early reading stage (7–8 years old) and the advanced reading stage (9–10 years old). Applying along-the-tract analyses of white matter organization, our results confirmed that a white matter deficit existed in the left AF prior to the onset of formal reading instruction in children who developed dyslexia later on. This deficit was consistently present throughout the course of reading development. Additionally, we evaluated the use of applying a continuous approach on the participants’ reading skills rather than the arbitrary categorization in individuals with or without dyslexia. Our results confirmed the predictive relation between FA and word reading measurements later in development. This study supports the use of longitudinal approaches to investigate the neural basis of the developmental process of learning to read and the application of triangulation, i.e. using multiple research approaches to help gain more insight and aiding the interpretation of obtained results. ispartof: Neuroimage vol:237 pages:1-17 ispartof: location:United States status: published

Developmental dyslexia has frequently been linked to deficits in auditory processing and speech perception. However, the presence and precise nature of these deficits and the direction of their relation with reading, remains debated. In this longitudinal study, 87 five-year-olds at high and low family risk for dyslexia were followed before and during different stages of reading acquisition. The processing of different auditory cues was investigated, together with performance on speech perception and phonology and reading. Results show no effect of family risk for dyslexia on prereading auditory processing and speech perception skills. However, a relation is present between the performance on these skills in kindergarten and later phonology and literacy. In particular, links are found with the auditory processing of cues characteristic for the temporal speech amplitude envelope, rather than with other auditory cues important for speech intelligibility. Hereby, cues embedded in the speech amplitude envelope show to be related to a broad range of phonological precursors for reading. In addition, speech-in-noise perception demonstrates to operate as the most contributing factor for later phonological awareness and to be a predictor for reading mediated by the association with phonology. This study provides behavioral support for the link between prereading speech amplitude envelope processing and speech perception for future phonology and reading.

The present study aimed to identify crucial factors that underlie phonological representations in short-term memory (STM) of third-graders with different literacy skills. For this purpose, we used the Nonword Repetition Task (NRT) to disentangle the processing of phonemes’ identity and their serial order. We found no evidence that children’s literacy skills are linked to their capacity for retaining phonemes’ identity. However, their literacy skills are linked to their capacity for retaining phonemes’ serial order. The latter link can be interpreted in terms of a domain-general STM mechanism but is also compatible with the impact of literacy on children’s knowledge of the phonotactic regularities in a language. ispartof: The Mental Lexicon vol:12 issue:1 pages:129-158 status: published

This study compared NRT-performance in monolingual Dutch and bilingual Turkish–Dutch third-graders using a Dutch Nonword Repetition Task (NRT). Several novel response analyses at the phoneme level were applied to further understand the earlier reported overall accuracy differences in NRT-performance between bilinguals and monolinguals. Analyses in which the retention of phonemes and the retention of their serial order were disentangled revealed that monolinguals outperform bilinguals with respect to the retention of the phonemes themselves. However, both groups did not differ in their retention of the serial order of correctly recalled phonemes. Furthermore, this study confirms that expressive vocabulary skills do affect overall NRT-performance. The results are discussed in light of current short-term memory (STM) models and the role of long-term phonological knowledge in NRT tasks. ispartof: Bilingualism. Language and Cognition vol:21 issue:2 pages:403-418 status: published

Version of Record online: 21 June 2019 There is an ongoing debate whether phonological deficits in dyslexics should be attributed to (a) less specified representations of speech sounds, like suggested by studies in young children with a familial risk for dyslexia, or (b) to an impaired access to these phonemic representations, as suggested by studies in adults with dyslexia. These conflicting findings are rooted in between study differences in sample characteristics and/or testing techniques. The current study uses the same multivariate functional MRI (fMRI) approach as previously used in adults with dyslexia to investigate phonemic representations in 30 beginning readers with a familial risk and 24 beginning readers without a familial risk of dyslexia, of whom 20 were later retrospectively classified as dyslexic. Based on fMRI response patterns evoked by listening to different utterances of /bA/ and /dA/ sounds, multivoxel analyses indicate that the underlying activation patterns of the two phonemes were distinct in children with a low family risk but not in children with high family risk. However, no group differences were observed between children that were later classified as typical versus dyslexic readers, regardless of their family risk status, indicating that poor phonemic representations constitute a risk for dyslexia but are not sufficient to result in reading problems. We hypothesize that poor phonemic representations are trait (family risk) and not state (dyslexia) dependent, and that representational deficits only lead to reading difficulties when they are present in conjunction with other neuroanatomical or—functional deficits. This research was funded by the Research Council of KU Leuven (OT/12/044), the Research Foundation Flanders (G0920.12), postdoctoral grant of Maaike Vandermosten (Research Foundation Flanders) and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (Vidi‐Grant 452‐16‐004 to Milene Bonte).

OBJECTIVES: Increasing evidence exists that poor speech perception abilities precede the phonological deficits typically observed in dyslexia, a developmental disorder in learning to read. Impaired processing of dynamic features of speech, such as slow amplitude fluctuations and transient acoustic cues, disrupts effortless tracking of the speech envelope and constrains the development of adequate phonological skills. In this study, a speech envelope enhancement (EE) strategy was implemented to reduce speech perception deficits by students with dyslexia. The EE emphasizes onset cues and reinforces the temporal structure of the speech envelope specifically. DESIGN: Speech perception was assessed in 42 students with and without dyslexia using a sentence repetition task in a speech-weighted background noise. Both natural and vocoded speech were used to assess the contribution of the temporal envelope on the speech perception deficit. Their envelope-enhanced counterparts were added to each baseline condition to administer the effect of the EE algorithm. In addition to speech-in-noise perception, general cognitive abilities were assessed. RESULTS: Results demonstrated that students with dyslexia not only benefit from EE but benefit more from it than typical readers. Hence, EE completely normalized speech reception thresholds for students with dyslexia under adverse listening conditions. In addition, a correlation between speech perception deficits and phonological processing was found for students with dyslexia, further supporting the relation between speech perception abilities and reading skills. Similar results and relations were found for conditions with natural and vocoded speech, providing evidence that speech perception deficits in dyslexia stem from difficulties in processing the temporal envelope. CONCLUSIONS: Using speech EE, speech perception skills in students with dyslexia were improved passively and instantaneously, without requiring any explicit learning. In addition, the observed positive relationship between speech processing and advanced phonological skills opens new avenues for specific intervention strategies that directly target the potential core deficit in dyslexia. ispartof: Ear and Hearing vol:40 issue:5 pages:1242-1252 ispartof: location:United States status: published

The first scientific reports of mathematical learning disabilities or dyscalculia indicated that these impairments originated from abnormalities in brain structures or functions related to mathematical processing. Due to the increasing availability of non-invasive brain imaging methods in the last decades, such as magnetic resonance imaging or MRI, there has been an increase in our knowledge about the brain networks that are relevant for mathematical performance. This research was originally limited to adult participants, but there is now a nascent body of developmental imaging studies in children as well. Research in typically developing children indicates that a frontoparietal network is consistently active during number processing and arithmetic. This network shows both communalities and differences with what is being observed in adults. Children with dyscalculia show functional as well as structural abnormalities in this network. In the absence of longitudinal data, it is currently unclear whether these abnormalities are a cause or consequence of this learning disorder. Future studies are needed to investigate this.

Research on the neural correlates of developmental dyslexia indicates atypical anatomical lateralization of the planum temporale, a higher-order cortical auditory region. Yet whether this atypical lateralization precedes reading acquisition and is related to a familial risk for dyslexia is not currently known. In this study, we address these questions in 2 separate cohorts of young children and adolescents with and without a familial risk for dyslexia. Planum temporale surface area was manually labeled bilaterally, on the T1-weighted MR brain images of 54 pre-readers (mean age: 6.2 years, SD: 3.2 months; 33 males) and 28 adolescents (mean age: 14.7 years, SD: 3.3 months; 11 males). Half of the pre-readers and adolescents had a familial risk for dyslexia. In both pre-readers and adolescents, group comparisons of left and right planum temporale surface area showed a significant interaction between hemisphere and family history of dyslexia, with participants who had no family risk for dyslexia showing greater leftward asymmetry of the planum temporale. This effect was confirmed when analyses were restricted to normal reading participants. Altered planum temporale asymmetry thus seems to be related to family history of dyslexia.

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Objective Based on the example of the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Audiologie (NVA)-lists (Bosman, 1989; Wouters et al.; 1994) and in addition to the Estonian words-in-noise (EWIN) test for adults (Veispak et al.; 2015), a words-in-noise test has been developed for Estonian children (EWINc). Design Two experimental steps were carried out: (1) selection and perceptual optimization of the monosyllables; construction of 14 lists, (2) an evaluation of the lists in normal hearing (NH) children both in noise and in quiet. Study sample Forty-three NH native speakers of Estonian (average age 7.9 years). Results The reference psychometric curve for all lists combined both in noise and in quiet for NH children was determined, with the slope and speech reception threshold differing from the respective values of the Estonian adults in accordance with previous research. The 14 lists in noise as well as in quiet were proven to be of equal difficulty with very little variation in the SRTs averaged over the lists. Conclusion The EWINc is a precise and reliable test for quantifying speech intelligibility in Estonian children. publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Estonian words in noise test for children (EWINc) journaltitle: Speech Communication articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.specom.2015.11.005 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ispartof: Speech Communication vol:77 pages:1-7 status: published

Many studies have focused on neuroanatomical anomalies in dyslexia, yet primarily in school-aged children and adults. In the present study, we investigated gray matter surface area and cortical thickness at the pre-reading stage in a cohort of 54 children, 31 with a family risk for dyslexia and 23 without a family risk for dyslexia, of whom 16 children developed dyslexia. Surface-based analyses in the core regions of the reading network in the left hemisphere and in the corresponding right hemispheric regions were performed in FreeSurfer. Results revealed that pre-readers who develop dyslexia show reduced surface area in bilateral fusiform gyri. In addition, anomalies related to a family risk for dyslexia, irrespectively of later reading ability, were observed in the area of the bilateral inferior and middle temporal gyri. Differences were apparent in surface area, as opposed to cortical thickness. Results indicate that the neuroanatomical anomalies, since they are observed in the pre-reading phase, are not the consequence of impoverished reading experience. ispartof: Cortex vol:121 pages:399-413 ispartof: location:Italy status: published

Aim. Arithmetical difficulties have been reported in pediatric mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) but the electrophysiological abnormalities underlying these impairments remain unknown. We therefore used event-related potentials (ERP) to investigate brain functioning during arithmetic in children at the subacute phase following mTBI. Method. Participants were 16 pediatric mTBI patients at the subacute phase of recovery (10 boys; mean age 10y 8mo) and 16 well-matched controls (11 boys; mean age 10y 9mo). All children were asked to solve single-digit addition problems of small (sum ≤ 10) and large problem size (sum > 10) with simultaneous recording of ERPs. Results. Children with mTBI performed significantly less accurately (mean 81 %) than controls (mean 91 %) on the large (p = .026) but not on the small problems (p = .171). We observed no group differences in the early ERP-components P1, N1, P2, and N2 (all ps ≥ .241), yet significant group differences (p = .019) emerged for the late positivity component LPC, for which patients (mean 8.35 µV) showed smaller mean amplitudes than controls (mean 12.95 µV). Interpretation. Immediately after the injury, arithmetical difficulties in children with mTBI are particularly pronounced on more complex arithmetical problems that are less automated. This is reflected in the ERP pattern with decreased LPC but normal N2 and early ERP-components. ispartof: Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology vol:57 issue:11 pages:1042-1048 ispartof: location:England status: published

Highlights • First DTI-study in pre-readers with a family risk for dyslexia (FRD+). • Bilateral ventral and dorsal pathways sustain phonological awareness. • FRD+ group displayed lower FA in left ventral pathway. • No neural specialization for phonological processing in pre-reading stage. • Anomalies related to family risk of dyslexia are present prior to reading onset., In adults and school-aged children, phonological aspects of reading seem to be sustained by left dorsal regions, while ventral regions seem to be involved in orthographic word recognition. Yet, given that the brain reorganises during reading acquisition, it is unknown when and how these reading routes emerge and whether neural deficits in dyslexia predate reading onset. Using diffusion MRI in 36 pre-readers with a family risk for dyslexia (FRD+) and 35 well matched pre-readers without a family risk (FRD−), our results show that phonological predictors of reading are sustained bilaterally by both ventral and dorsal tracts. This suggests that a dorsal and left-hemispheric specialisation for phonological aspects of reading, as observed in adults, is presumably gradually formed throughout reading development. Second, our results indicate that FRD+ pre-readers display mainly white matter differences in left ventral tracts. This suggests that atypical white matter organisation previously found in dyslexic adults may be causal rather than resulting from a lifetime of reading difficulties, and that the location of such a deficit may vary throughout development. While this study forms an important starting point, longitudinal follow-up of these children will allow further investigation of the dynamics between emerging literacy development and white matter connections.

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have shown that left temporoparietal white matter is related to phonological aspects of reading. However, DTI lacks the sensitivity to disentangle whether phonological processing is sustained by intrahemispheric connections, interhemispheric connections, or projection tracts. Spherical deconvolution (SD) is a nontensor model which enables a more accurate estimation of multiple fiber directions in crossing fiber regions. Hence, this study is the first to investigate whether the observed relation with reading aspects in left temporoparietal white matter is sustained by a particular pathway by applying a nontensor model. Second, measures of degree of diffusion anisotropy, which indirectly informs about white matter organization, were compared between DTI and SD tractography. In this study, 71 children (5–6 years old) participated. Intrahemispheric, interhemispheric, and projection pathways were delineated using DTI and SD tractography. Anisotropy indices were extracted, that is, fractional anisotropy (FA) in DTI and quantitative hindrance modulated orientational anisotropy (HMOA) in SD. DTI results show that diffusion anisotropy in both the intrahemispheric and projection tracts was positively correlated to phonological awareness; however, the effect was confounded by subjects’ motion. In SD, the relation was restricted to the left intrahemispheric connections. A model comparison suggested that FA was, relatively to HMOA, more confounded by fiber crossings; however, anisotropy indices were highly related. In sum, this study shows the potential of SD to quantify white matter microstructure in regions containing crossing fibers. More specifically, SD analyses show that phonological awareness is sustained by left intrahemispheric connections and not interhemispheric or projection tracts. Hum Brain Mapp 36:3273–3287, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Children with mild intellectual disabilities (MID) appear to have particular problems in understanding the numerical meaning of Arabic digits. Therefore, we devel- oped and evaluated a numerical domino game that specifi- cally targeted the association between these digits and the numerical magnitudes they represent. Participants were 30 children with MID (M = 8.36 years), randomly assigned to either the numerical domino game or to a control color domino game. Findings revealed that both groups of chil- dren improved on a nonsymbolic comparison and arithmetic task. Most importantly, only children who played the numer- ical domino game became significantly faster from pretest to posttest on a symbolic comparison task. These findings sug- gest that numerical magnitude processing can be success- fully trained in children with MID.

This study examines the role of morphological awareness (MA) in literacy achievement and compensation in word reading of adults with dyslexia through an exploration of three questions: (1) Do adult dyslexics demonstrate a deficit in MA, and how is this potential deficit related to phonological awareness (PA)? (2) Does MA contribute independently to literacy skills equally in dyslexics and control readers? and (3) Do MA and PA skills differ in compensated and noncompensated dyslexics? A group of dyslexic and normal reading university students matched for age, education and IQ participated in this study. Group analysis demonstrated an MA deficit in dyslexics; as well, MA was found to significantly predict a greater proportion of word reading and spelling within the dyslexic group compared with the controls. Compensated dyslexics were also found to perform significantly better on the morphological task than noncompensated dyslexics. Additionally, no statistical difference was observed in MA between the normal reading controls and the compensated group (independent of PA and vocabulary). Results suggest that intact and strong MA skills contribute to the achieved compensation of this group of adults with dyslexia. Implications for MA based intervention strategies for people with dyslexia are discussed.

Neural anomalies have been demonstrated in dyslexia. Recent studies in pre-readers at risk for dyslexia and in pre-readers developing poor reading suggest that these anomalies might be a cause of their reading impairment. Our study goes one step further by exploring the neurodevelopmental trajectory of white matter anomalies in pre-readers with and without a familial risk for dyslexia (n = 61) of whom a strictly selected sample develops dyslexia later on (n = 15). We collected longitudinal diffusion MRI and behavioural data until grade 3. The results provide evidence that children with dyslexia exhibit pre-reading white matter anomalies in left and right long segment of the arcuate fasciculus (AF), with predictive power of the left segment above traditional cognitive measures and familial risk. Whereas white matter differences in the left AF seems most strongly related to the development of dyslexia, differences in the left IFOF and in the right AF seem driven by both familial risk and later reading ability. Moreover, differences in the left AF appeared to by dynamic. This study supports and expands recent insights into the neural basis of dyslexia, pointing towards pre-reading anomalies related to dyslexia, as well as underpinning the dynamic character of white matter. ispartof: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience vol:27 pages:69-77 ispartof: location:Netherlands status: published

Purpose: This longitudinal study examines measures of temporal auditory processing in pre-reading children with a family risk of dyslexia. Specifically, it attempts to ascertain whether pre-reading auditory processing, speech perception and phonological awareness (PA) reliably predict later literacy achievement. Additionally, this study retrospectively examines the presence of pre-reading auditory processing, speech perception and PA impairments in children later found to be literacy impaired. Method: Forty-four pre-reading children with and without a family risk of dyslexia were assessed at three time points (kindergarten, first and second grade). Auditory processing measures of rise time (RT) discrimination and frequency modulation (FM) along with speech perception, PA and various literacy tasks were assessed. Results: Kindergarten RT uniquely contributed to growth in literacy in grades one and two, even after controlling for letter knowledge and PA. Highly significant concurrent and predictive correlations were observed with kindergarten RT significantly predicting first grade PA. Retrospective analysis demonstrated atypical performance in RT and PA at all three time points in children who later developed literacy impairments. Conclusions: Although significant, kindergarten auditory processing contributions to later literacy growth lack the power to be considered as a single-cause predictor; thus results support temporal processing deficits’ contribution within a multiple deficit model of dyslexia. ispartof: Frontiers in Psychology vol:8 issue:FEB pages:1-13 ispartof: location:Switzerland status: published

In de eerste wetenschappelijke beschrijvingen van rekenstoornissen of dyscalculie werd gesuggereerd dat deze problemen het gevolg zouden zijn van afwijkingen in de hersengebieden die belangrijk zijn voor rekenen. Door de enorme vooruitgang in niet-invasieve technieken om de structuur en de functie van de hersenen in kaart te brengen, zoals magnetische resonantie beeldvorming of MRI, is er de laatste jaren een enorme toename aan kennis over die hersennetwerken die voor rekenen belangrijk zijn. Onderzoek bij zich normaal ontwikkelende kinderen toont aan dat een fronto-parietaal netwerk consistent actief is tijdens het verwerken van hoeveelheden en tijdens elementair rekenen. Dit netwerk is deels overlappend/deels verschillend van volwassenen. Kinderen met rekenproblemen of dyscalculie vertonen zowel functionele als structurele afwijkingen in dit fronto-parietaal netwerk. Toekomstig onderzoek zal moeten uitwijzen of deze afwijkingen oorzaak dan wel gevolg zijn van de rekenproblemen die kinderen met dyscalculie hebben.

Deficits in arithmetic fact retrieval constitute the hallmark of children with mathematical learning difficulties (MLD). It remains, however, unclear which cognitive deficits underpin these difficulties in arithmetic fact retrieval. Many prior studies defined MLD by considering low achievement criteria and not by additionally taking the persistence of the MLD into account. Therefore, the present longitudinal study contrasted children with persistent MLD (MLD-p; mean age: 9 years 2 months) and typically developing (TD) children (mean age: 9 years 6 months) at three time points, to explore whether differences in arithmetic strategy development were associated with differences in numerical magnitude processing, working memory and phonological processing. Our longitudinal data revealed that children with MLD-p had persistent arithmetic fact retrieval deficits at each time point. Children with MLD-p showed persistent impairments in symbolic, but not in nonsymbolic, magnitude processing at each time point. The two groups differed in phonological processing, but not in working memory. Our data indicate that both domain-specific and domain-general cognitive abilities contribute to individual differences in children's arithmetic strategy development, and that the symbolic processing of numerical magnitudes might be a particular risk factor for children with MLD-p.

The main focus of this article is to develop a better understanding of the developmental trajectories of literacy and phonological skills within Dutch-speaking children. Children at high and low risk for dyslexia were followed and compared at four different moments: kindergarten and first, third and sixth grades. Three groups were then compared: (1) dyslexic readers; (2) normal readers at high risk for dyslexia; and (3) normal readers at low risk for dyslexia. Children diagnosed with dyslexia scored lower than high-risk normal readers on phonological awareness (PA), rapid automatized naming (RAN), verbal short-term memory and literacy skills. Normal readers at high risk scored between both groups, confirming that dyslexia is to be considered as a continuum rather than an all-or-none condition. Growth analyses showed that the three groups evolved similarly on all measures except for phoneme deletion and literacy measures. Finally, solely PA and RAN explained a significant amount of variance in the evolution of reading skills.

In the last decades, strategy variability and flexibility have become major aims in mathematics education. For children with mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) it is unclear whether the same goals can and should be set. Some researchers and policy makers advise to teach MLD children only one solution strategy, others advocate stimulating the flexible use of various strategies, as for typically developing children. To contribute to this debate, we compared the use of the subtraction by addition strategy to mentally solve two-digit subtractions in children with and without MLD. We used non-verbal research methods to infer strategy use patterns, and found that both groups of children switch between the traditionally taught direct subtraction strategy and subtraction by addition, based on the relative size of the subtrahend. These findings challenge typical special education classroom practices, which only focus on the routine mastery of the direct subtraction strategy. publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Subtraction by addition in children with mathematical learning disabilities journaltitle: Learning and Instruction articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2013.11.001 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ispartof: Learning and Instruction vol:30 pages:1-8 status: published

Neural activation of slow acoustic variations that are important for syllable identification is more lateralized to the right hemisphere than activation of fast acoustic changes that are important for phoneme identification. It has been suggested that this complementary function at different hemispheres is rooted in a different degree of white matter myelination in the left versus right hemisphere. The present study will investigate this structure-function relationship with Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) and Auditory Steady-State Responses (ASSR), respectively. With DTI we examined white matter lateralization in the cortical auditory and language regions (i.e. posterior region of the superior temporal gyrus and the arcuate fasciculus) and white matter integrity in the splenium of the corpus callosum. With ASSR we examined interhemispheric coherence to slow, syllabic-rate (i.e. 4 Hz) and fast, phonemic-rate (i.e. 20 Hz) modulations. These structural and functional techniques were applied in a group of normal reading adults and a group of dyslexic adults for whom previously reduced functional interhemispheric connectivity at 20 Hz has been reported (Poelmans et al. (2012). Ear and Hearing, 33, 134-143). This sample was chosen since it is hypothesized that in dyslexic readers insufficient hemispheric asymmetry in myelination might relate to their auditory and phonological problems. Results demonstrate reduced white matter lateralization in the posterior superior temporal gyrus and the arcuate fasciculus in the dyslexic readers. Additionally, white matter lateralization in the posterior superior temporal gyrus and white matter integrity in the splenium of the corpus callosum related to interhemispheric coherence to phonemic-rate modulations (i.e. 20 Hz). Interestingly, this correlation pattern was opposite in normal versus dyslexic readers. These results might imply that less pronounced left white matter dominance in dyslexic adults might relate to their problems to process phonemic-rate acoustic information and to integrate them into the phonological system. publisher: Elsevier articletitle: White matter lateralization and interhemispheric coherence to auditory modulations in normal reading and dyslexic adults journaltitle: Neuropsychologia articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.07.008 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ispartof: NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA vol:51 issue:11 pages:2087-2099 ispartof: location:England status: published

The purpose of this study was to investigate psychometric properties (factorial structure, reliability, and criterion validity) of a Spanish version of the Parental Behavior Scale (PBS), an instrument developed to assess observable parental behavior. The sample consisted of 591 Peruvian families in Metropolitan Lima. Parents, mostly mothers, completed the scale regarding one target child attending 6th grade of primary education. Two models were tested using confirmatory factor analysis: a nine-factor model based on the original PBS and a five-factor model (PBS short version). Both models fitted the data well. A multi-sample confirmatory factor analysis showed that the factor structure, factor loadings and correlations were invariant for groups of parents with children in public or in private schools. Four factors showed adequate reliability: Positive Parenting, Rules, Discipline and Harsh Punishment. Correlational analyses showed significant associations between harsh punishment and child behavioral problems, measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and with the family environment, measured with the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment.

The relations between reading, auditory, speech, phonological and tactile spatial processing are investigated in a Dutch speaking sample of blind braille readers as compared to sighted print readers. Performance is assessed in blind and sighted children and adults. Regarding phonological ability, braille readers perform equally well compared to print readers on phonological awareness, better on verbal short-term memory and significantly worse on lexical retrieval. The groups do not differ on speech perception or auditory processing. Braille readers, however, have more sensitive fingers than print readers. Investigation of the relations between these cognitive and perceptual skills and reading performance indicates that in the group of braille readers auditory temporal processing has a longer lasting and stronger impact not only on phonological abilities, which have to satisfy the high processing demands of the strictly serial language input, but also directly on the reading ability itself. Print readers switch between grapho-phonological and lexical reading modes depending on the familiarity of the items. Furthermore, the auditory temporal processing and speech perception, which were substantially interrelated with phonological processing, had no direct associations with print reading measures.

Recent evidence suggests that a fundamental deficit in the synchronization of neural oscillations to temporal information in speech may underlie phonological processing problems in dyslexia. Since previous studies were performed cross-sectionally in school-aged children or adults, developmental aspects of neural auditory processing in relation to reading acquisition and dyslexia remain to be investigated. The present longitudinal study followed 68 children during development from pre-reader (5 years old) to beginning reader (7 years old) and more advanced reader (9 years old). Thirty-six children had a family risk for dyslexia and 14 children eventually developed dyslexia. EEG recordings of auditory steady-state responses to 4 and 20 Hz modulations, corresponding to syllable and phoneme rates, were collected at each point in time. Our results demonstrate an increase in neural synchronization to phoneme-rate modulations around the onset of reading acquisition. This effect was negatively correlated with later reading and phonological skills, indicating that children who exhibit the largest increase in neural synchronization to phoneme rates, develop the poorest reading and phonological skills. Accordingly, neural synchronization to phoneme-rate modulations was found to be significantly higher in beginning and more advanced readers with dyslexia. We found no developmental effects regarding neural synchronization to syllable rates, nor any effects of a family risk for dyslexia. Altogether, our findings suggest that the onset of reading instruction coincides with an increase in neural responsiveness to phoneme-rate modulations, and that the extent of this increase is related to (the outcome of) reading development. Hereby, dyslexic children persistently demonstrate atypically high neural synchronization to phoneme rates from the beginning of reading acquisition onwards.

Background: Morphological Awareness (MA) has been demonstrated to be influential on the reading outcomes of children and adults. Yet, little is known regarding MA's early development. Aim: The aim of this study is to better understand MA at different stages of development and its association with Phonological Awareness (PA) and reading. Methods and Procedures: In a longitudinal design the development of MA was explored in a group of pre-reading children with a family risk of dyslexia and agematched controls from kindergarten up to and including grade 2. Outcomes and Results: MA deficits were observed in the group with literacy difficulties at all time points. PA was only found to make a significant contribution to MA development at the early stages of formal reading instruction. While first-grade decoding skills were found to contribute significantly to MA in second grade. Conclusions: Evidence supporting a bidirectional relation was found and supports the need for adequate MA intervention and explicit instruction for “at risk” children in the early stages of literacy instruction. ispartof: Research in Developmental Disabilities vol:67 pages:47-59 ispartof: location:United States status: published

A fundamental deficit in the synchronization of neural oscillations to temporal information in speech could underlie phonological processing problems in dyslexia. In this study, the hypothesis of a neural synchronization impairment is investigated more specifically as a function of different neural oscillatory bands and temporal information rates in speech. Auditory steady-state responses to 4, 10, 20 and 40 Hz modulations were recorded in normal reading and dyslexic adolescents to measure neural synchronization of theta, alpha, beta and low-gamma oscillations to syllabic and phonemic rate information. In comparison to normal readers, dyslexic readers showed reduced non-synchronized theta activity, reduced synchronized alpha activity and enhanced synchronized beta activity. Positive correlations between alpha synchronization and phonological skills were found in normal readers, but were absent in dyslexic readers. In contrast, dyslexic readers exhibited positive correlations between beta synchronization and phonological skills. Together, these results suggest that auditory neural synchronization of alpha and beta oscillations is atypical in dyslexia, indicating deviant neural processing of both syllabic and phonemic rate information. Impaired synchronization of alpha oscillations in particular demonstrated to be the most prominent neural anomaly possibly hampering speech and phonological processing in dyslexic readers.

Similar to many sighted children who struggle with learning to read, a proportion of blind children have specific difficulties related to reading braille which cannot be easily explained. A lot of research has been conducted to investigate the perceptual and cognitive processes behind (impairments in) print reading. Very few studies, however, have aimed for a deeper insight into the relevant perceptual and cognitive processes involved in braille reading. In the present study we investigate the relations between reading achievement and auditory, speech, phonological and tactile processing in a population of Estonian braille reading children and youngsters and matched sighted print readers. Findings revealed that the sequential nature of braille imposes constant decoding and effective recruitment of phonological skills throughout the reading process. Sighted print readers, on the other hand, seem to switch between the use of phonological and lexical processing modes depending on the familiarity, length and structure of the word.