characterized by slow naming speed. When follow-up evaluations of the sample were

made in sixth grade, it was found that this naming subgroup had shown the least progress

in reading achievement, whereas the other children with other cognitive profiles had

improved over the three intervening years. It is important to note that only a few studies

on subtypes of RD have been conducted to date.

 Clearly researchers need to replicate these studies in order to determine subtypes

of RD. With knowledge of various subtypes of RD, specific conditions or characteristics

of individuals with RD can be identified and effective reading interventions can be

provided for these children.

Advanced technology

 Advanced technology has given us the opportunity to look closely into brain

images and eye movement during reading. Most recently, Functional Magnetic

Resonance Imaging (fMIRI) has added important piece of information about the anatomy

of the brain. fMIRI is a technique to image brain activity related to a specific task or

sensory process. As discussed earlier, it is now known that an impairment of the M

pathway might affect the generalized timing mechanisms of the cerebellum (Fawcett et

al., 2001). This scientific evidence implies that abnormal function in the specialized brain

area V5/MT explains visual problems in people with reading disabilities. Interestingly,

studies using fMRI on phonological deficit revealed that the phonological deficit can be

traced back to a more general auditory impairment, which has the same biological origin

as the visual impairment, namely, a dysfunction of magno-cells in sensory pathways.

This tells us that there seems to be an overlap of areas of the brain that have to do with

sensitivity to visual motion and phonological segmentation. If the M pathway is impaired