AIMS

There are two main aims of the proposed study. The first aim is to examine the longitudinal predictors of later reading and writing levels in unselected populations. More specifically the longitudinal predictive role of early oral language and literacy skills assessed at different developmental points will be examined. In this way, it will be possible to use the smaller cohorts, from such as the clinics 25 months and 49 months to examine the prospective longitudinal relations between early oral language and later literacy skills as well as educational and vocational outcomes. The second aim of the study is to conduct a retrospective analysis of the data and examine the early markers of two main subtypes of reading difficulties, namely dyslexia (specific reading impairment) and specific reading comprehension impairment. The early markers of later writing difficulties will also be examined. Prior research on the relationship between reading comprehension and text writing reported only moderate relations suggesting that the comprehension and production of written text call upon similar as well as distinct cognitive-linguistic skills. There is currently very limited understanding of the early markers of text writing difficulties.