The role of neuroscience in the remediation of students with dyslexia

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Abstract
Reading and reading failure Unlike oral language, which is learned naturally from infancy, reading is a skill that is acquired at an older age, through instruction and with effort. The numerous and complex processes that are required for skilled reading were recognized as early as 1917: "the perception and discrimination of forms and sounds; associations of sounds with the visual appearance of letters; linkage of names with clusters of letters, and meaning with groups of words; memory, motor, visual and auditory factors; and motor processes as subsumed under processes of inner speech and reading aloud"1. In our long-standing search for the causes of reading disability, each of these constituent processes has been studied and evaluated for susceptibility to failure. In recent decades, neuroscience research has been centrally involved in characterizing both the neurobiology and the genetics involved in reading; in particular, these findings have advanced the identification and treatment of the reading disorder developmental dyslexia. Today, dyslexia research efforts primarily address (i) the definition of developmental dyslexia; (ii) its biological basis; (iii) its early identification and (iv) the most effective treatment approaches. The ultimate goals for current research are better and earlier diagnosis (before reading failure ensues), as well as affordable and practical treatments. When a child is unable to learn by traditional education, parents often invest in costly alternatives with questionable effectiveness. As with any treatment program, before investing time and money, parents should be asking questions: Is it helpful to dyslexic students? Do reading accuracy, fluency and comprehension improve? Is it a cost-effective solution? Has it been rigorously evaluated through scientific research studies that use standard reading assessment measures? Although the results from neuroscience research can help to provide this information, they are often inaccessible to the nonscientist. To ensure that families get the help they need, independent groups have emerged to assist in identifying a dyslexic child (an important first step in successful treatment), to evaluate the efficacies of reading remediation, and to clarify and summarize information from