THE OCCASIONAL "INDEPENDENCE" OF DYSLEXIA AND DYSGRAPHIA FROM DYSPHASIA

Abstract

The association between impairment in reading and writing and spoken speech is examined in detail in one patient and a survey study is made of a group of unselected cases of language disability to provide more evidence for the independence of dyslexia and dysgraphia from dysphasia. Severe dyslexia and moderate dysgraphia were associated with only slight dysphasia in the one case, and in only one case out of an unselected group of 35 was dyslexia or dysgraphia found as the sole disability. In 25 of these cases the dysphasia was more marked than the dyslexia or the dysgraphia. Based on the degree of impairment, dyslexia and/or dysgraphia were more severe than dysphasia in four cases. A reading disorder considered as a symbolic loss, such as these cases showed, may occasionally predominate over alterations of spoken speech and a true dysgraphia may appear more pronounced than the accompanying dysphasia. It was concluded that in spite of the considerable overlap of the neural systems for dyslexia and dysgraphia with the extensive neural mechanisms of speech, a certain amount of independence does exist.