Reading Ability, Object Constancy, and Turner's Syndrome

Abstract

Learning to read demands a child recognize that slight changes in the form, position, or directional orientation of objects (letters) may alter their symbolic or semantic value. It is possible that inability to recognize these changes, due to neurocognitional deficits in space-form perception and/or directional orientation, may be responsible for specific reading disability. To test this hypothesis, the Gates Reading Survey was administered to 17 patients with Turner's syndrome, a cytogenetic disorder commonly manifesting a degree of space-form blindness and directional disorientation. The reading ability of this group of patients was not deficient. Thus, when these two deficits are related to reading disability, they must be specific to the language function. This study demonstrates the usefulness of specific clinical groups in the testing of hypotheses otherwise untestable on human Ss.