COGNITIVE FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENT OF DEVELOPMENTAL DYSLEXIA : CASE STUDY EVALUATION

Abstract

In order to develop fine-grained diagnostic tools for a functional assessment of developmental dyslexia in Singapore, cognitive models of reading and phonological awareness for English were examined. In addition to the traditional psychometric assessments, psycholinguistic tests and cognitive experimental tasks were developed and administered to five primary school children identified as dyslexics. The children were tested OI three different occasions within 16 weeks , in order to evaluate the remediation programme at the Dyslexic Association of Singapore (DAS). The results of the study suggest that the remediation programme, which is broadly phonological in nature, had different effects on the literacy skills of the five children. Three factors appear to influence remediation changes in DAS: (i) the original type of impairment (ii) the child's pre-test level of phonological awareness (iii) the influence of the mother tongue (Malay or Mandarin) on the development of literacy and phonological awareness in English. The implications of these findings are discussed with particular reference to the work of Seymour and his colleagues (Seymour & MacGregor, 1984; Seymour, 1990, 1993; Seymour & Brunce, 1994).