Word Recognition and Component Phonological Processing Skills of Adults with Childhood Diagnosis of Dyslexia

This paper reports the results of two studies that examine the word recognition skills and related phonologically based component skills of adults with childhood diagnoses of dyslexia. Despite high levels of educational attainment these subjects showed word recognition deficits which were primarily manifested in terms of long reaction times. Furthermore, they showed poor knowledge of spelling-sound correspondences, reliance on inadequate spelling-sound information for the recognition of familiar and unfamiliar words, and poor phonological awareness skills. These results are similar to those obtained for dyslexic children. They suggest that not only do word recognition deficits of dyslexic children persist across the life span, but also that phonological impairments account for their existence and persistence.