Genetic models of reading disability

Test data collected on 133 reading-disabled (RD) children and their nuclear families who participated in the Colorado Family Reading Study were subjected to segregation analysis utilizing the technique of Elston and Yelverton (1975) for a continuous phenotypic measure. The possibility of genetic heterogeneity of RD was investigated by analyzing four subsets of data: all families, families with male probands, families with female probands, and families with severely affected probands. Furthermore, an analysis of the children's data was compared to that of all family members to investigate the possibility that the disorder may be manifested differently in adults. Results from the four subsets of data show that RD is etiologically heterogeneous. Compatibility with a major recessive gene for RD was demonstrated for families with female probands. Analyses of the children's data alone give results consistent with both environmental and genetic determination of RD.