Cognitive Profile of Children Referred to a Clinic for Reading Disabilities

Abstract

Cognitive performance asymmetries in favor of functions attributed to the right cerebral hemisphere are reported for 105 out of 108 subjects referred to a clinic for reading difficulties. Children were referred by their parents, teachers, psychologists or doctors for diagnosis and treatment of reading difficulties in school. Virtually all subjects who were behind in reading—not explained by intelligence or opportunity factors—performed, on the average, better than the norm by about 0.50 S.D. on tests usually attributed to the right cerebral hemisphere and poorer than the norm by the same amount on tests attributed to the left cerebral hemisphere. The sample had four times as many males as females and reading retardation in females was only slightly greater Both overall performance as well as degree of asymmetry increased with parent education. These results suggest that reading disabled children are homogeneous with at least the right/left asymmetry aspect of their cognitive profile. The consistent asymmetry further suggests that the concept of cognitive laterality, as well as the test instrument used here to measure it, may be of diagnostic value and be useful in the establishment of risk factors in a nonidentified population