Boys Are More Prone to Dyslexia
New study finds boys more than twice as likely to have reading disability than girls
By Donna Liquori -- School Library Journal, 6/1/2004
Lead researcher Dr. Michael Rutter and his colleagues at King's College in London based their findings on data collected from four independent studies examining the nature, extent, and significance of sex differences in reading disabilities. The studies, which involved more than 10,000 children who had been given standardized reading tests in Britain and New Zealand, found that 17.6 percent to 21.6 percent of the boys were likely to have dyslexia, compared to just 7.9 percent to 13 percent of the girls. Rutter and his colleagues say their results are buttressed by the fact that the children in the studies were not known to have learning disabilities.
Another recent study examining the reading gender gap finds that male role models are one sure way to get boys interested in reading. Heather Richmond, an education professor at St. Thomas University in Canada, and teacher Cheryl Miles, invited male mentors from a university, including some hockey players, into elementary school classrooms. Fourth- and fifth-grade boys grew more excited about reading when male mentors read to them once a week for two years.
