A double dissociation between sensorimotor impairments and reading disability: A comparison of autistic and dyslexic...

Does sensorimotor dysfunction underlie reading impairment? To investigate this question, a battery of literacy, phonology, auditory, visual, and motor tests were administered to age- and ability-matched groups of dyslexic, autistic, and control children. As in previous studies, only a subset of the dyslexic children had sensory and/or motor impairments, whilst some dyslexics were entirely spared, suggesting that sensorimotor impairments are not necessary to cause reading disability. A subset of autistic children was also found to have sensorimotor impairments; however, some of these children did not have reading problems, suggesting that sensorimotor impairments are not sufficient to cause reading disability. We conclude that sensorimotor and reading impairments are doubly dissociable. Sensorimotor impairments do not seem to be the cause of reading disability, but can be seen as nonspecific markers for developmental disorder.