Gene-environment interplay on reading ability, disability, and recovery

Project:

Current interventions for reading disability (dyslexia) show variable effects: they are often effective for some but not all of the children. It is difficult to predict which children will respond well to an intervention and why. It therefore remains difficult to optimise referral to different types of intervention. This project takes genetic factors into account to enrich our understanding of individual differences in reading trajectories and responses to intervention.

Questions addressed will be: To what extent is the home literacy environment confounded with genetic factors? To what extent do they interact? What are the genetic, environmental and cognitive predictors of reading progress, in normal-reading and in dyslexic children? What are the genetic, environmental and cognitive predictors of dyslexic children’s response to educational or speech and language therapy?