Prologue: language abilities in persons with dyslexia

The purpose of this special issue is to showcase current research on language abilities in persons with dyslexia. Although dyslexia is most often defined as a word-level reading and spelling disorder rooted in phonology, a large and growing body of evidence shows that the language difficulties of dyslexia extend well beyond phonology and are too often overlooked in research and practice. The articles in this issue (a) examine how broader oral language has and has not been accounted for in dyslexia research and policy, (b) characterize the language profiles of children with dyslexia with and without co-occurring developmental language disorder (DLD), (c) trace early language markers and subtypes that precede and predict reading difficulty, and (d) consider practical tools for detecting language vulnerability and for tailoring intervention to it within populations with reading and language difficulty. Read together, these contributions converge on a single message: dyslexia is best understood as a language learning disability, and assessment and instruction that ignore broader oral language risk leaving the needs of many children unmet. Universal screening, evaluation, and intervention for children with or at risk for dyslexia should routinely include measures of and stimulation for all components of oral language.