Predicting and Evaluating Treatment Response: Evidence Toward Protracted Response Patterns for Severely Impacted Students With Dyslexia

Abstract

Great strides have been made in the development of effective methods of instruction for children with dyslexia. However, individual response to treatment varies, and weaknesses persist for some students with dyslexia despite otherwise effective instruction. Continued efforts are needed to support the prospective identification of poor response, particularly in routine intervention settings. The current study addressed whether indicators of dyslexia risk as outlined by hybrid diagnostic models predict response in children who received Tier 3 dyslexia intervention in their schools. The program’s efficacy has been previously documented in remediating reading abilities in children with dyslexia. Data were examined from 115 elementary-aged children who received routine Tier 3 dyslexia intervention in their schools. Logistic regression revealed powerful effects of preintervention fluency and gender in predicting response, with weaker effects of decoding and rapid naming. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder status also played a role in predicting response. Phonological awareness and listening-reading comprehension discrepancy did not predict response. Profile analyses indicated near- and far-transfer of skill for the adequate response group, whereas growth in the poor response group was limited to near-transfer. Findings support a continuum of severity that may be associated with less robust growth and generalization over the course of the intervention.

Understanding Dyslexia Guidance for Parents and Teachers: A Review of States' Handbooks

“…Additionally, the two most important variables that moderate intervention effects were dosage and reading domain. These findings are consistent with other research (Catts & Petscher, 2022;Gaab & Petscher, 2022;Kaye et al, 2022;Middleton et al, 2022) and are important in relation to states' dyslexia handbooks because they showed that the amount of time the student participated in explicit reading instruction (ie, dosage) related to a specific reading skill (i.e., domain) had the biggest effects on student learning. In other words, these results suggest that the best approach to teaching students at risk for, or diagnosed with, dyslexia is to identify the specific reading skill gaps and provide explicit and systematic reading instruction across multiple tiers starting in the Tier 1 general education classroom.…”

“…Nonetheless, other research has suggested that more detailed information about an individual student's reading deficits and dyslexia symptoms could inform the most effective intervention (Middleton et al, 2022). In a study of 115 elementary students participating in a Tier 3 dyslexia intervention, not all students made the expected reading gains (Middleton et al, 2022). Regression analysis showed that the students' pre-intervention fluency skills, gender, and comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) predicted later reading outcomes better than baseline decoding and rapid naming skills.…”

“…Despite the legislation and resulting handbooks, other research indicates that dyslexia remains misunderstood by many educators (Anderson, 2021) and that services for students with dyslexia are uneven (Odegard et al, 2020). At the same time, research findings continue to point toward the benefits of (a) dyslexia screening (Barnes & Peltier, 2022; Fletcher et al, 2021; Gaab & Petscher, 2022; Shaywitz et al, 2021; Zuk et al, 2021); (b) universal explicit and systematic reading instruction (Catts & Petscher, 2022; Linan-Thompson et al, 2022; Middleton et al, 2022); and (c) selective intervention (Hall et al, 2023; Kaye et al, 2022; Wagner & Lonigan, 2023).…”

Remote Neuropsychological Intervention for Developmental Dyslexia with the Tachidino Platform: No Reduction in Effectiveness for Older Nor for More Severely Impaired Children

“…Further studies showed that older children could obtain gains comparable to those of younger students: there is no evidence that older children cannot benefit from specific training [ 27 ]. The authors of a recent study evaluated the impact of causes, correlates, and consequences of dyslexia in predicting the outcome of intervention [ 28 ]. Among potential impact factors was the severity of reading problems.…”

Remedial interventions for developmental dyslexia: Comparing the rhythmic reading training to the “Abilmente” approach

“…Although gender ratio was not statistically different between conditions, it is worth mentioning that more boys (10 vs 6) were assigned to the Abilmente intervention. Recent evidence showed a gender role in predicting treatment response in DD (Middleton et al, 2022), with males being better responders. Given that and the rather small sample size, we cannot exclude that a slightly greater number of boys in the Abilmente group contributed to better reading improvements.…”