A Longitudinal Study of Reading Skills Among Very-Low-Birthweight Children: Is There a Catch-up?

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Abstract
Objective To examine the development of reading skills among very-low-birthweight (VLBW) children and to what extent reading difficulties at 9 years of age persist unchanged, are attenuated, or are enhanced at 15 years of age. Methods Fifty-six VLBW and 52 normal birthweight (NBW) children were assessed on word decoding, word recognition, and reading comprehension at 9 and 15 years of age. Results VLBW children showed deficits in reading skill at 9 years of age, while most differences obtained at 15 years of age did not reach significance. VLBW children improved their reading comprehension between 9 and 15 years of age more than NBW children, and when controlling for individual differences in IQ, VLBW children improved both their reading comprehension and word-recognition skill. Conclusion The results suggest that VLBW children display positive changes over time in reading skills.

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