Phonological remediation effects on a child with giftedness and developmental dyslexia

Twice-exceptionality is characterized as the presence of high performance concomitantly with deficiencies or incompatible conditions. An example is when giftedness manifest associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. This study is a clinical case report referring to the evaluative and interventional process of a 9- year-old child with the paradoxical combination of giftedness associated with dyslexia. It aims to compare the performance in phonological processing, reading and writing before and after phonological remediation. In the first assessment, the child demonstrated alphabetic level in reading, a transition phase between syllabic-alphabetic and alphabetical writing levels, and below-expected performance in phonological processing skills. After intervention, the results showed consistent improvements in phonological processing, the consolidation of alphabetical writing and orthographic reading level. In general, children with isolated dyslexia have persistent difficulties in several skills after intervention. The evolution shown after phonological remediation, especially at reading level, shows different characteristics than expected. Thus, it can be concluded that twice-exceptionality may have favored the overcoming of some of the shown difficulties more successfully. Studies on these combined conditions can contribute to a better understanding of this framework during the development of learning and to formulate specialized interventions.