A longitudinal study that followed children from age 5 to adulthood found that individuals who were strong readers in the first five grades of primary school tended to remain strong readers as adults. This pattern held true for both typical and dyslexic children, according to research published in npj Science of Learning.
Dyslexia is a learning disability that primarily affects reading and related language-based processing skills. Individuals with dyslexia struggle with accurate and fluent word recognition and often have poor spelling. These challenges are not linked to intelligence but stem from differences in the brain’s processing of language. Although these differences are likely present from birth, dyslexia is typically diagnosed in primary school when children begin learning to read.
Research indicates a significant gap in reading ability between typical and dyslexic children, which is apparent as early as the first grade and persists into adolescence. A study in Finland revealed that only 1 in 5 dyslexic individuals manage to overcome their reading difficulties and develop adequate reading skills in adulthood.
Emilio Ferrer and his colleagues sought to understand the development of reading skills from childhood to adulthood in English-speaking individuals. They specifically investigated whether early reading skills were predictive of reading abilities in adulthood.
The study tracked 312 individuals from age 5 into adulthood (average age 42), including 246 typical readers and 66 dyslexic readers, as part of the Connecticut Longitudinal Study, a representative survey of schoolchildren entering public kindergartens. Fifty-three percent of participants were girls, and all participants spoke English as their primary language.
Researchers assessed participants’ reading skills during grade school using the WJ Reading Cluster from the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Test Battery, which includes Letter-Word Identification, Word Attack, and Passage Comprehension subtests. Adult reading skills were measured with the ART-2 Adult Reading Test, which evaluates prose reading accuracy, comprehension (both silent and aloud), and reading speed (both silent and aloud). Dyslexia was identified using scores from the WJ Reading Cluster combined with cognitive ability test results.
The results showed that reading levels in the first grade and the development of reading skills over the first five years of primary school were associated with reading abilities in adulthood. Children who had better reading skills in the first grade and showed faster reading development in the initial years of primary school were likely to be better readers as adults. This link between early and adult reading skills was stronger in dyslexic individuals than in typical readers.
“These findings indicate that the achievement gap between typical and dyslexic readers persists far beyond adolescence, in fact, into adult life,” the study authors concluded.
“Our findings depart from assumptions by standardized testing agencies that require applicants requesting accommodations (i.e., extra time for dyslexic students) to be retested every three or five years. 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. Thus, the requirement for retesting of dyslexic students who are adults every few years is not supported by our findings.”
The study highlights the connections between early reading skills development and adult reading abilities. However, it is important to note that these findings reflect the educational methods and dyslexia treatments available at the time of the study. With advancements in reading programs and dyslexia interventions, it is possible that future outcomes could improve.
The paper, “Early reading at first grade predicts adult reading at age 42 in typical and dyslexic readers,” was authored by Emilio Ferrer, Bennett A. Shaywitz, John M. Holahan, and Sally E. Shaywitz.