Practitioner Review: Reading disorders: what are the effective interventions and how should they be implemented and evaluated?

Abstract

Background: Two developmental reading disorders, dyslexia and reading comprehension impairment, are identified by different behavioural characteristics and traced back to different underlying cognitive impairments. Thus, reading interventions designed to address each of these reading disorders differ in content.

Method: This review summarises the nature of dyslexia and reading comprehension impairment, and current understanding of best practice in associated reading interventions.

Conclusion: There is strong evidence for the effectiveness of phonological-based reading interventions in supporting children with dyslexic difficulties, and a growing understanding of how to meet the needs of children with reading comprehension impairment, with vocabulary instruction offering a promising approach. Although the content of interventions must be tailored to an individual's reader profile, general principles regarding the implementation and evaluation of intervention programmes can be extracted.