tion and decoding skills (breaking the code and correctly identifying the abstract symbols in sequence), and (3) reading comprehension (giving symbols meaning).
In learning to read, the normal child learns to differentiate graphic symbols, to decode letters to sound and to use higher order units of linguistic structure. Reading requires the transformation of visual symbols into verbal language. Both the ability to analyze visual constructs (printed words) and the ability to analyze acoustical constructs (spoken words) into their component parts appear to be critical skills. These abilities are derived from three basic perceptual processing skills.
At the decoding level, children must learn to relate auditory patterns in speech to the spatially ordered visual patterns in print and must also reverse the process by responding to the printed word patterns with the appropriate sound sequences. Thus, the acquisition of reading skills may be dependent on a complex constellation of many different abilities, including auditory sequencing, visual sequencing, visual/motor-spatial integration, visual discrimination, short-term memory and auditory and visual integration.
In her discussion of the foregoing processes comprising normal reading, Snowling (1991) points out that each step in the process is considered to be a prerequisite for the next; consequently, a framework is laid for higher levels of functioning. However, the dyslexic learner may not efficiently acquire these skills, at least not within the framework and timeframe prescribed by regular schools.
On the other hand, Huettner (1989) has argued that one of the problems in arriving at a full understanding of dyslexia is that the models used by the educational system to explain language and reading processes are inadequate. Specifically, Huettner (1989) states that contemporary neuroanatomical-neurolinguistic models which conceptualize language and reading as multidime...