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The effects of letter spacing and coloured overlays on reading speed and accuracy in adult dyslexia

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posted on 2023-08-30, 14:28 authored by Amanda Sjoblom, Elizabeth Eaton, Steven D. Stagg
Background. Zorzi et al. (2012, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 109, 11455) found evidence that extra-large letter spacing aids children with dyslexia, but the evidence for the coloured overlays is contradictory (e.g., Henderson et al., 2013, J. Res. Special Educ. Needs, 13, 57; Wilkins, 2002, Ophthalmic Physiol. Opt., 22, 448), and possible combined advantages have not been identified. Aims. To investigate whether extra-large letter spacing or coloured overlays can alleviate reading problems in dyslexic adults. Sample. The participants were 24 dyslexic and 24 non-dyslexic university students, matched for age and fluid intelligence. Methods. The reading speed and the errors made by a dyslexic and a control group were measured in four conditions: with and without coloured overlays and with normally and largely spaced texts. Results. Large letter spacing improves the reading speed in general, as well as improves the reading accuracy in dyslexic readers. Conclusions. The results support the positive effect of letter spacing on reading performance.

History

Refereed

  • Yes

Volume

86

Issue number

4

Page range

630-639

Publication title

British Journal of Educational Psychology

ISSN

2044-8279

Publisher

Wiley

File version

  • Accepted version

Language

  • eng

Legacy posted date

2016-11-25

Legacy creation date

2016-10-28

Legacy Faculty/School/Department

ARCHIVED Faculty of Science & Technology (until September 2018)

Note

This is the peer reviewed version which has been published in final form at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12127. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley's Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.

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