Improvement in reading speed in an adult with developmental dyslexia of the "mixed" type

PM, an adult developmental dyslexic, was markedly slower than controls in her reading speed of single words, connected text, and non-words. A remediation programme was implemented that involved repeated presentation of a set of 160 words, together with a gradual reduction in exposure time. Post-intervention testing revealed that the programme successfully increased PM's reading speed. A significant effect of word length on PM's naming latencies was observed prior to intervention but was substantially reduced following it. Naming latencies and lexical decision task latencies showed a reduction following intervention, although performance in a pseudohomophone decision task was found to be worse following intervention than before it. Finally, PM showed evidence of a "release from competition" effect in the Paap and Noel (1991) dual task paradigm prior to intervention, but not following. It was suggested that PM's reading performance prior to remediation indicated inefficient lexical and sublexical procedures while post-intervention testing suggested that there had been an improvement in lexical processing.