“…FROM EARLY studies (Thomas, 1905) onwards, evidence has accumulated for the familial nature of reading problems (Orton, 1937;Norrie, 1939;Kagen, 1943;Drew, 1956;Kucera, Matejcek & Langmeier, 1963;Bettman, Stern, Whitsell & Gofman, 1967;Doehring, 1968;Michal-Smith, Morgenstern & Karp, 1970;Newton, 1970;Hunter & Johnson, 1971). A typical finding is that reported by Rutter, Tizard & Whitmore (1970), where 34% of children with specific reading retardation had a parent or sibling with a reading problem compared to 9% of a control group.…”