| dc.description.abstract | Dyslexics have been found to have multiple co-occurring problems, of which language, motor and attention problems are among the most frequently named. This thesis examines the relationship between dyslexia and its possible precursors, with a specific aim to investigate claims about motor development. Infants with a familial risk of dyslexia were compared with a group of control infants. A parental questionnaire provided information about the medical history and development, speech and language development, motor development and attention. Additionally, language production and comprehension skills were assessed with the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories. As dyslexic children have shown impaired language, motor and attention abilities, the development of the at-risk group was expected to be delayed. Furthermore, correlations between the performance in language, motor and attention skills are examined. The at-risk children indeed obtained lower scores on measures of receptive vocabulary. No difference was found between the two groups on any of the motor development measures. Overall motor development was associated with vocabulary scores for both groups, but a relationship between oral motor development and vocabulary was only present for the at-risk group. Similarly, whereas overall motor development was associated with attention for both groups, a correlation between oral motor development and attention was only present for the at-risk group. This suggests that oral motor skills and attention need to be taken into account when studying precursors of dyslexia. | |
