Dyslexia Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Dyslexia, including details on learning, reading, education, teaching, treatment.

A longitudinal study of reading skills among very-low-birthweight children: is there a catch-up?

Samuelsson S, Finnström O, Flodmark O, Gäddlin PO, Leijon I, Wadsby M

Department of Behavioral Sciences, Linköping University, S-581 83 Linköping, Sweden. stesa@ibv.liu.se

OBJECTIVE: To examine the development of reading skills among very-low-birthweight (VLBW) children and to what extent reading difficulties at 9 years of age persist unchanged, are attenuated, or are enhanced at 15 years of age. METHODS: Fifty-six VLBW and 52 normal birthweight (NBW) children were assessed on word decoding, word recognition, and reading comprehension at 9 and 15 years of age. RESULTS: VLBW children showed deficits in reading skill at 9 years of age, while most differences obtained at 15 years of age did not reach significance. VLBW children improved their reading comprehension between 9 and 15 years of age more than NBW children, and when controlling for individual differences in IQ, VLBW children improved both their reading comprehension and word-recognition skill. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that VLBW children display positive changes over time in reading skills.

Published 5 September 2006 in J Pediatr Psychol, 31(9): 967-77.
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