Analysing developmental disorders of reading

Max Coltheart
Macquarie University

Abstract
This paper describes the elementary subskills children need to acquire in order to become skilled readers. A model of the skilled adult reading system is used for characterising the different types of reading difficulties one sees in children, in terms of what reading subskills a child is having particular difficulty acquiring, and also used for developing a systematic method for assessing how well a child is acquiring each of the reading subskills. The model is also helpful in the selection or design of targeted treatment methods for assisting children who are having difficulties in learning to read.