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Contains fulltext : 219397.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) We examined the response to a phonics through spelling intervention for children with developmental dyslexia in word and pseudoword reading efficiency and word spelling. Furthermore, we investigated to what extent the response to the intervention is robust across different cognitive profiles (phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and working memory). A group of 54 Dutch children, diagnosed with developmental dyslexia, received a phonics through spelling intervention that combined reading and spelling instruction and practice in a systematic way. An equal amount of time was spent on reading and spelling. Compared with norms within a normal population, positive effects were established for word and pseudoword reading efficiency and word spelling from pretest to posttest. The individual variation in phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and verbal working memory did not significantly influence the progress in reading and spelling children made during the phonics through spelling intervention. It can thus be concluded that a combined reading and spelling intervention is beneficial for word and pseudoword reading efficiency and word spelling in children with developmental dyslexia notwithstanding their cognitive profiles. Although promising results were found, this study also showed the persistence of spelling but even more so of reading problems after an intervention among children with dyslexia. 15 p.

Contains fulltext : 197460.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) The present study explored the direct and indirect contribution of semantic abilities to the levels of phonological and orthographic abilities in children with dyslexia. The semantic abilities of fifty-five 9-year-old Dutch children diagnosed with dyslexia were associated with their phonological abilities (phonological awareness, rapid naming, and verbal working memory) and their word decoding and pseudoword decoding efficiency scores. It was found that children's semantic abilities predicted both word decoding efficiency and pseudoword decoding efficiency indirectly via phonological awareness and rapid naming. These results can be explained in terms of a lexical restructuring account of early reading development; strong semantic abilities provide children with dyslexia with a boost to strengthen their phonological skills and naming skills, which indirectly facilitate their reading development. 13 p.