The Contributions of Vision, Early Childhood Reading Environment, and Attentional Deficit Symptoms in the Learning to Read Process and Reading Difficulties

The etiology of learning to read difficulties in childhood varies, in that difficulties with learning to read in early childhood may be associated with, but not limited to, lack of accuracy and fluency in word recognition, poor word-sound decoding, poor spelling and reading comprehension abilities, attentional or vision problems. Since learning to read process begins far before children formal schooling, early childhood family environment also contributes to the learning to read experiences in childhood. Given the existing complexities surrounding the identification, diagnosis, and intervention for reading disabilities, the primary aim of this dissertation was to examine the difficulties encountered by poor readers (LRD group), compared to typical readers (WoLRD group), during the learning to read process and how this influences academic performance and emotional well-being during childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. This dissertation comprised of three studies; an on-line survey and a semi-structured interview consisting of questions pertaining to learning to read experiences, family environment, attentional and vision symptoms. And a meta-analysis examining the prevalence of convergence insufficiency in poor versus typical readers. Results demonstrated that the differences in learning to read experiences affected the motivation to read due to issues of comfort, adequacy, confidence, familial attitude towards reading, and adequacy of assistance and encouragement while learning to read. However, the diversity in the responses regarding participants' motivation to engage in reading activities was contingent on participants’ family environment, wherein poor readers with parents who placed greater value on reading while growing up were more likely to enjoy reading despite their reading challenges. Additionally, the on-line survey findings showed that ophthalmological and vision symptoms did not contribute to learning to read difficulties in childhood. Yet, findings from the meta-analysis showed that compared to typical readers, poor readers scored poorly on convergence insufficiency measures. Further, although the frequency of attentional deficit symptoms experienced varied between LRD and WoLRD groups, the number of participants who experienced attentional deficits in childhood did not vary significantly between two groups. Altogether, this dissertation demonstrates that factors contributing to the development of reading ability exist on a continuum, and a combination of these factors predict difficulties in learning to read.