Admission and Follow-up Status of Reading Disabled Children Referred to a Medical Clinic

Abstract

Fifty-eight reading disabled children referred to a medical clinic for developmentally disabled children were examined on admission and after 3 to 5 years of special educational intervention. As a group, the children showed minimal gains in reading, remaining among the poorest readers for age. However, one-third of the children (mainly the older ones) made sufficient progress which, while slowly achieved, resulted in a minimal degree of functional reading. A high proportion of the children were diagnosed as having neurologic and/or psychiatric disorders which were unrelated to the level of reading failure found within the group. The findings suggested that such children are not representative of the general population of poor readers in the community and that throughout their schooling they require special educational methods, other than reading, for the acquisition of subject matter.