Crogman Gilger Hoeft 2018
Authors: Maryam Trebeau Crogman, Jeffrey Gilger, and Fumiko Hoeft.
Article: Visuo-Spatial Skills in Atypical Readers: Myths, Research, and Potential.
Publication: Twice-Exceptional: Supporting and Educating Bright and Creative Students with Learning Difficulties (Oxford University Press). 2018
While data on nonlinguistic skills remain relatively unconsidered in general defnitions of RD, we argue that these abilities may be an important part of the RD and 2e-RD picture. To develop such an argument, we start by providing an overview of current defnitions of RD (Lyon, Shaywitz, & Shaywitz, 2003) and 2e (Foley Nicpon, Allmon, Sieck, & Stinson, 2011), and summarize the past 40 years of research on how nonverbal visual-spatial (VS) reasoning is expressed in people with RD. While results generally suggest that RD individuals as a group do not exhibit overall superior VS abilities, there appear to be specifc types of VS skills that RD individuals show strengths in, but more rigorous and systematic research is needed. We also note that regardless of the data on VS skills in heterogeneous RD samples, there is a subset of RD individuals who could be classifed as 2e-RD and who ofen demonstrate superiority in the VS domain. Te special needs of these 2e-RD individuals needs to be better addressed with an extended focus beyond their reading challenges.
