Processing of Rhythm in Speech and Music in Adult Dyslexia

Recent studies have suggested that musical rhythm perception ability can affect the phonological system. The most prevalent causal account for developmental dyslexia is the phonological deficit hypothesis. As rhythm is a subpart of phonology, we hypothesized that reading deficits in dyslexia are associated with rhythm processing in speech and in music. In a rhythmic grouping task, adults with diagnosed dyslexia and age-matched controls listened to speech streams with syllables alternating in intensity, duration, or neither, and indicated whether they perceived a strong-weak or weak-strong rhythm pattern. Additionally, their reading and musical rhythm abilities were measured. Results showed that adults with dyslexia had lower musical rhythm abilities than adults without dyslexia. Moreover, lower musical rhythm ability was associated with lower reading ability in dyslexia. However, speech grouping by adults with dyslexia was not impaired when musical rhythm perception ability was controlled: like adults without dyslexia, they showed consistent preferences. However, rhythmic grouping was predicted by musical rhythm perception ability, irrespective of dyslexia. The results suggest associations among musical rhythm perception ability, speech rhythm perception, and reading ability. This highlights the importance of considering individual variability to better understand dyslexia and raises the possibility that musical rhythm perception ability is a key to phonological and reading acquisition.

Dysleksja u dorosłych a depresja – w perspektywie narracji uczestnika terapii pedagogicznej

This article presents the problem of adult dyslexia and its emotional-motivational effects – the depressive disorders. It shows the narration of a young man experiencing both. From the presented quotations emerges the image of these disorders, but also ways to deal with them. In spite of serious problems, a high level of aspirations has been maintained, and psycho-pedagogical therapy remains a supportive factor as well as success.

Adult Dyslexia and Word Puzzles

This article describes how dyslexia is a real disease that is linked to specific semiotic systems, such as the alphabet and word orthographical rules. As such, it is likely to be a result of an asymmetry between developmental cognition and particular semiotic structure. If this is so, then an appropriate intervention approach that is based on this hypothesis might involve the use of word puzzles that play on the alphabetic and semantic structure of words. This article presents the findings of a pilot project in which selected adult dyslexics were asked to participate in a word puzzle study, consisting of word searches, anagrams, and word squares, whereby they would be asked to solve a set of puzzles under the supervision of a researcher. The latter documented and annotated the actual behaviors of the participants as they solved the puzzles. The overall result of the project is a promising one in that it suggests that the use of such “enigmatological” strategies may have a definite role to play in dyslexia intervention, although much more research is needed in this area.

Instrumentos de avaliação de leitura em adultos: um estudo psicométrico

RESUMO Objetivo: investigar as propriedades psicométricas de um teste de desempenho para avaliação de reconhecimento de palavras e de um checklist de autorrelato de dificuldades de leitura/indicadores de dislexia, em uma amostra de adultos. Métodos: foram avaliados 54 sujeitos, idades entre 18 e 57 anos (M=24,16; DP = 7,34), com Ensino Médio completo ou cursando a graduação. As avaliações foram realizadas utilizando o Teste Computadorizado de Competência de Leitura de Palavras para Adultos (TCLP-2) e o questionário de autorrelato Adult Dyslexia Checklist (ADC). Resultados: não foram observadas diferenças de desempenho em função da escolaridade e do gênero. O tempo de resposta foi menor no julgamento dos itens Corretos do TCLP-2 em relação aos itens incorretos (inversão, troca fonológica, erro ortográfico e pseudopalavra homófona). 18,5% dos participantes relataram dificuldades mais severas no ADC. Análise de grupos extremos mostrou que participantes com maiores pontuações/dificuldades no ADC tiveram pior desempenho nos itens Corretos do TCLP-2. Análise fatorial retornou solução com fator único para tipos de itens do TCLP-2. Dados de precisão se mostraram adequados para ambos os instrumentos, com valores de Spearman-Brown e alfa de Cronbach maiores que 0,70. Relações de baixa a moderadas foram observadas entre os dois instrumentos, provendo evidências de validade a ambos. Conclusão: o estudo apresentou dados psicométricos de dois instrumentos para avaliação de leitura em adultos. Ambos mostraram índices satisfatórios de precisão e evidências de validade por relação com outras variáveis. Frente à carência de instrumentos padronizados para avaliação de leitura em adultos no contexto nacional, o estudo estende sua contribuição à futura instrumentalização desta área.