Yale researcher Sally Shaywitz, MD, world-renowned expert on dyslexia and co-founder and co-director of the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity, recently released a study in the journal npj Science of Learning that examines the achievement gap between students with dyslexia and students labeled as typical readers. The longitudinal study follows a cohort of students from ages 5 to 42 years old starting in 1983 and found that the reading gap between typical and dyslexic readers persists into adulthood.
Dyslexia, as defined in federal law (PL 115-391) and explained by The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, “is an unexpected difficulty in reading for an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader. It is most commonly due to a difficulty in phonological processing (the appreciation of the individual sounds of spoken language), which affects the ability of an individual to speak, read, spell and, often, learn a second language.” Dyslexia affects 20% of the population, that’s around 12 million school age children in the United States and is universal across socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity, and genders. A diagnosis of dyslexia is lifelong but can be improved over time with early screening and evidence-based interventions, as well as proper accommodations at school or work.
The data show that reading development in the first five years of school, from 1st grade to 5th grade, has a strong association with reading scores in adulthood.
Because of these findings, the importance of early screening is paramount: “Our data indicate that once a person is identified as dyslexic in the early grades, he or she is very likely to be dyslexic as an adult at age 42.” The study does not recommend repeat testing into adulthood.
Dr. Shaywitz wants teachers, parents, caregivers, and people living with dyslexia to know that many celebrities, politicians, and artists have dyslexia. She says, “Do not fear this diagnosis. Bright, successful, well-known people like California Governor Gavin Newsom, Nobel chemistry prize winner Jacques Dubochet, and author John Irving all have dyslexia.” Bennett Shaywitz, MD, and John Holahan, PhD, from the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity at Yale School of Medicine and Emilio Ferrer, PhD, from the Department of Psychology at University of California, Davis also helped author this study. Click here to read "Early reading at first grade predicts adult reading at age 42 in typical and dyslexic readers” in npj Science of Learning.