A few remarks on the relationship between visuo-spatial attention deficits and dyslexia

Abstract

Dyslexia and attentional problems are often comorbid. This raises the question whether reading deficits might etiologically follow from attentional difficulties, a hypothesis that has been proposed in regard to visuo-spatial attention deficits. This visuo-spatial attention deficit hypothesis would predict that attention deficits should be specific to dyslexia. However, it is here estimated that at the population level there are more non-dyslexic individuals than dyslexic individuals with visuo-spatial attention deficits. The reason for this is that in the overall population level there are far more individuals without dyslexia than with dyslexia. Thus, a relatively modest percentage presence of attention problems in the non-dyslexic population can result in a greater absolute number of on-dyslexic individuals with such problems. It is concluded that attention problems are unlikely to be specific to dyslexia.