Defining reading disorders and evaluating reading interventions: Perspectives from the response to intervention model

Following a well-documented dissatisfaction with the IQ-discrepancy method of defining reading disability, an alternative approach has emerged in the United States. The present article provides an introduction to the Response to Intervention (RTI) model and its conceptualisation of reading disorder. A complementary strand to this research concerns the exploration of individual variations in response to reading interventions, with a particular emphasis on children who fail to benefit from treatment. The prevalence and characteristics of such treatment nonresponders will be outlined, and implications for practice will be discussed.

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