The nonword reading deficit of disabled readers: A developmental interpretation.

In this contribution empirical evidence is presented that challenges the received wisdom that a nonword-reading deficit is a characteristic trait of disabled readers. Based on two large-scale empirical studies using the reading-level-match (RLM) design, we argue that a nonword-reading deficit is the consequence of normal developmental differences in word-specific knowledge between disabled readers and younger normal readers (both groups being matched on real-word reading). The first study shows that the nonword-reading deficit varies as a function of age and reading level. The second study demonstrates that a nonword-reading deficit crucially depends on the sensitivity of the matching word reading task to detect age-related differences in word-specific knowledge between disabled and normal readers. We explain why these results are not in conflict with the phonological deficit hypothesis, and we discuss the implications for theories of reading development.