{"id":142,"date":"2012-06-09T18:18:42","date_gmt":"2012-06-09T18:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dragonflyteaching.org\/wp\/?page_id=142"},"modified":"2014-06-23T17:02:33","modified_gmt":"2014-06-23T17:02:33","slug":"wider-letter-spacing-helps-dyslexics-read-research-findings","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.dragonflyteaching.org\/wp\/?page_id=142","title":{"rendered":"Wider Letter Spacing Helps Dyslexics Read (research findings)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wider Letter Spacing Helps Dyslexics Read<\/span><\/p>\n

Tuesday, June 5, 2012 12:15 PM<\/p>\n

\n

(from: http:\/\/newsmaxhealth.com)<\/p>\n

European researchers (a French-Italian research team, jointly headed by Johannes Ziegler of the Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive – CNRS\/Aix-Marseille Universit\u00c3\u00a9 – published 4 June 2012 in the <\/span>Proceedings of the National Academy of Science)<\/span><\/em> have said that offering reading materials with wider spacing between the letters can help dyslexic children read faster and better. <\/span><\/p>\n

In a sample of dyslexic children age eight to 14, extra-wide letter spacing doubled accuracy and increased reading speed by more than 20 percent, according to the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. <\/span><\/p>\n

Scientists believe the approach worked because people with dyslexia are more affected than normal readers by a phenomenon known as “crowding,” which makes a letter harder to identify when it is close to other letters. <\/span><\/p>\n

“Our findings offer a practical way to ameliorate dyslexics’ reading achievement without any training,” said the study led by Marco Zorzi of the department of general psychology at Italy’s University of Padova. <\/span><\/p>\n

Researchers studied 54 Italian and 40 French dyslexic children, giving them a text made up of 24 short sentences to read in either standard or expanded letter spacing. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the standard text, the words were printed in Times-Roman font with a 14 point print size (1 point = 0.353 mm in typesetting standards). <\/span><\/p>\n

In the expanded text, the space between letter was increased by 2.5 points, so the “space between i and l in the Italian word il (the) was 2.7 pt in normal text vs. 5.2 pt in spaced text,” said the study. <\/span><\/p>\n

The space between lines of text was also increased to show a proportional amount of white space on the page. <\/span><\/p>\n

The children were given either French or Italian texts according to their native language, and the regular and extra-space sessions were scheduled two weeks apart to minimize the effect that memorization might have on reading speed. <\/span><\/p>\n

Not only did dyslexic children read faster, but the greatest benefits were observed in children who had the most problem identifying letters. <\/span><\/p>\n

Children without reading challenges showed no increase in reading speed when given materials in which letters were more widely spaced, suggesting that the benefit was unique to children with dyslexia. <\/span><\/p>\n

“Practitioners only know too well that getting dyslexic children to read more is a key component in achieving long-lasting improvements in reading skills,” said the study. <\/span><\/p>\n

“Extra large letter spacing, which could even be optimized adaptively on an individual basis, can certainly contribute to achieving this goal.” <\/span><\/p>\n

Dyslexia is a developmental disorder that is linked to a problem in the part of the brain that interprets language, and can run in families. Extra tutoring and an intense focus on reading are the most frequently advocated treatments. <\/span><\/p>\n

The disorder, which has no cure, is estimated to affect about 15 percent of Americans. <\/span><\/p>\n

Co-authors on the study came from Aix-Marseille University and France’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. <\/span><\/p>\n

The research was funded by grants from the Institute for Maternal and Child Health in Italy, the European Research Council Grant and the University of Padova. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0ALSO, on http:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/dys-help-people-with-dyslexia\/id529867852?mt=8 is the opportunity to test the optimum spacing of letters, as well as links to an app. called DYS … if anyone tries this out, do let us know what happens.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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