RESEARCH – Revealing the Causes of Dyslexia through a Differential Diagnosis, a Short-Term Effective Treatment and an Appropriate Conceptual Framework

by Reinhard Werth Institute for Social Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Haydnstr. 5, D-80336 Munich, Germany. The author is retired professor of Medical Psychology at the Institute of Social Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at the University of Munich, Germany.

Diagnostics 2024, 14(17), 1965; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14171965

Submission received: 25 July 2024 / Revised: 27 August 2024 / Accepted: 2 September 2024 / Published: 6 September 2024

Abstract

Various different impairments and their interactions can cause reading problems referred to as “dyslexia”. Since reading requires the interaction of many abilities, the impairment of each of these abilities can result in dyslexia. Therefore, the diagnosis must differentiate various kinds of dyslexia. The diagnosis of a certain kind of dyslexia cannot be delimited to the investigation and description of symptoms but must also include the investigation of the causes of each kind of dyslexia. For this purpose, a scientifically unequivocal concept of causation and appropriate methods are needed to distinguish them from co-existing impairments that have no causal influence on reading performance. The results of applying these methods cannot be adequately accounted for by a non-scientific, intuitive understanding of necessary and sufficient conditions and causation. The methods suitable for revealing the causes of dyslexia are described in detail, and the results of applying these methods in experiments, in which 356 children with developmental dyslexia participated, are reviewed. Since the concepts of “necessary” and “sufficient” conditions and “causation” proposed in the philosophy of science are not suitable for describing causes of dyslexia and their interaction, they are replaced by a more detailed, experimentally based conceptual framework that provides an accurate description of the conditions required for correct reading and the causes of dyslexia.

Read more here