Dyslexia in adults: Evidence for deficits in non-word reading and in the phonological representation of lexical items

Af Carsten Elbro, Ina Nielsen & Dorthe K. Petersen

Difficulties in reading and language skills which persist from childhood into adult life are the concerns of this article. The aims were twofold: (1) to find measures of adult reading processes that validate adults' retrospective reports of difficulties in learning to read during the school years, and (2) to search for indications of basic deficits in phonological processing that may point toward underlying causes of reading difficulties. Adults who reported a history of difficulties in learning to read (n = 102) were distinctly disabled in phonological coding in reading, compared to adults without similar histories (n = 56). They were less disabled in the comprehension of written passages, and the comprehension disability was explained by the phonological difficulties. A number of indications were found that adults with poor phonological coding skills in reading (i.e., dyslexia) have basic deficits in phonological representations of spoken words, even when semantic word knowledge, phonemic awareness, educational level, and daily reading habits are taken into account. It is suggested that dyslexics possess less distinct phonological representations of spoken words. 

Elbro, C., Nielsen, I. & Petersen, D.K. (1994). Dyslexia in adults: Evidence for deficits in non-word reading and in the phonological representations of lexical items. Annals og Dyslexia, 44, 205-226.