Some characteristics of 9-year-old boys with general reading backwardness or specific reading retardation.

In 1975 Rutter and Yule distinguished between 'specific reading retardation' and 'general reading backwardness'. In a sample of 952 9-year-olds from Dunedin, New Zealand, 4.2% were identified as specific reading retarded and 4.1% as having general reading backwardness. Boys from each problem group were compared with boys without reading delay. General reading backwardness was associated with a history of long-term cognitive and motor delay. Specific reading retardation was only associated with lower verbal IQ and poor speech articulation. A number of differences between the findings of Rutter and Yule and the present results were noted.