Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T03:46:32.439Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Familial Nature of Reading Disability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

J. C. DeFries ,
S. M. Singer ,
T. T. Foch  and
F. I. Lewitter
J. C. DeFries
Affiliation:
Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
S. M. Singer
Affiliation:
Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
T. T. Foch
Affiliation:
Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
F. I. Lewitter
Affiliation:
Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

An extensive psychometric test battery was administered to 125 children with a reading disability, to their parents and siblings, and to members of 125 matched control families (N = 1,044). In addition to expected differences in spelling and reading, probands obtained significantly (P ≤ · 01) lower scores than controls on tests of other cognitive abilities. Manifold deficits were also found in siblings and parents of probands, conclusively demonstrating the familial (genetic and/or common-family environmental) nature of the disorder.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 132 , Issue 4 , April 1978 , pp. 361 - 367
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1978 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Critchley, M. (1970) The Dyslexic Child. London: William Heinemann Medical Books.Google Scholar
Finucci, J. M., Guthrie, J. T., Childs, A. L., Abbey, H. & Childs, B. (1976) The genetics of specific reading disability. Annals of Human Genetics, 40, 1–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Foch, T. T. (1975) Analysis of the Unreduced Battery for the Colorado Family Study of Specific Reading Disability. Unpublished Master's thesis, University of Colorado.Google Scholar
Foch, T. T., DeFries, J. C., McClearn, G. E. & Singer, S. M. (1977) Familial patterns of impairment in reading disability. Journal of Educational Psychology, 69, 316–329.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hallgren, B. (1950) Specific dyslexia (‘congenital word blindness’): a clinical and genetic study. Acta Psychiatrica et Neurologica, Suppl. 65.Google Scholar
Institute for Personality and Ability Testing (1973) Measuring Intelligence with Culture Fair Tests: Manual for Scales 2 and 3. Champaign, Ill.: Author.Google Scholar
McCarthy, J. J. & McCarthy, J. F. (1969) Learning Disabilities. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Morgan, P. W. (1896) A case of congenital word-blindness. British Medical Journal, ii, 1378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owen, F. W., Adams, P. A., Forrest, T. S., Stolz, L. M. & Fisher, S. (1971) Learning disorders in children: Sibling studies. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 36 (4, Serial No. 144).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reds, A. J. (1961) Occupations and Social Status. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press.Google Scholar
Walker, L. & Cole, E. M. (1965) Familial patterns of expression of specific reading disability in a population sample. Bulletin of the Orton Society, 15, 12–24.Google Scholar
Zerbin-Rüdin, E. (1967) [Congenital word-blindness.] In Humangenetik (ed. Becker, P. E.). Stuttgart: Thieme. (Reprinted in Bulletin of the Orton Society, 1967, 17, 47–54.) Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.