Early syntactic development of dyslexic children.

The syntactic development of preschoolers who later became disabled readers was compared to that of children who were similar to the dyslexics in sex, socioeconomic status, and IQ, but who became normal readers. Expressive and receptive syntactic abilities were examined longitudinally from age 30 to 60 months. The dyslexic group was poorer than the control group on all measures until the age of five, at which time both groups exhibited similar syntactic proficiency. The etiological relation of language development to reading disabilities is discussed.