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Contains fulltext : 234372.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) We examined the response to a phonics through spelling intervention in 52 children with dyslexia by analyzing their phonological, morphological, and orthographical spelling errors both before and after the intervention whereas their spelling errors before the intervention were compared with those of 105 typically developing spellers. A possible compensatory role of semantics on the intervention effects was also investigated. Results showed that before the intervention, children with dyslexia and the typically developing children both made most morphological errors, followed by orthographic and phonological errors. Within each category, children with dyslexia made more errors than the typically developing children, with differences being largest for phonological errors. Children with dyslexia with better developed semantic representations turned out to make less phonological, morphological, and orthographic errors compared with children with dyslexia with less developed semantic representations. The intervention for children with dyslexia led to a reduction of all error types, mostly of the orthographic errors. In addition, semantics was related to the decline in phonological, morphological, and orthographic spelling errors. This study implicates that semantic stimulation could benefit the spelling development of children at risk for or with dyslexia. 20 p.

Contains fulltext : 252601.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) The present study investigated the compensatory role of verbal learning and consolidation in reading and spelling of children with (N = 54) and without dyslexia (N = 36) and the role of verbal learning (learning new verbal information) and consolidation (remember the learned information over time) on the response to a phonics through spelling intervention of children with dyslexia. We also took phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, verbal working memory, and semantics into account. Results showed that children with dyslexia performed better in verbal learning and equal in verbal consolidation compared to typically developing peers. Regression analyses revealed that verbal learning did not predict reading but did predict spelling ability, across both groups; verbal consolidation did not predict reading, nor spelling. Furthermore, neither verbal learning nor verbal consolidation was related to responsiveness to a phonics through spelling intervention in children with dyslexia. Verbal learning may thus be seen as a compensatory mechanism for spelling before the intervention for children with dyslexia but is beneficial for typically developing children as well. 26 p.

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.