COORDINATOR
Mercedes I. Rueda has been the Director of the UADLE (Unit for Attention to Learning Difficulties in Reading and Writing) at the University of Salamanca since 2009.
She also serves as the Director of the Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology at USAL.
In 2023, she was awarded the National Dyslexia Award for pioneering scientific research intervention on dyslexia based on phonology, marking the first such initiative in Spain.
She is a professor specializing in Learning Difficulties at the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Salamanca and actively teaches in the master’s programs on Learning Difficulties, as well as Language and Communication Disorders at USAL.
Additionally, she collaborates with the Peruvian Center for Hearing, Language, and Learning (CPAL) as part of their Diploma of Specialization in Dyslexia program.
Her main research interests include the processes involved in learning to read, dyslexia, and its comorbidity with other neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Language Development Disorder.
This symposium presents five studies that address the theoretical, conceptual, and diagnostic complexities surrounding the investigation of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and its relationship with specific reading disorders, particularly dyslexia (DX).
The symposium begins with a review of the current state of research in this field, providing a comprehensive overview of the theoretical and empirical advances.
The second presentation analyzes differences in a range of oral and written language variables between school-aged children with DLD and a control group of typically developing readers.
The third paper explores the similarities and differences between two groups: one consisting of children with DX and another comprising children with both DLD and DX.
This study focuses on profiling these disorders by examining their relationships with reading skills, vocabulary, and metalinguistic abilities.
The fourth presentation reports findings from a longitudinal study that tracked a cohort of children with DLD from preschool through the early years of primary education.
The study aims to identify early markers of DLD and evaluate their developmental trajectory as children begin acquiring reading skills.
Finally, the fifth study addresses the diagnostic complexity of DLD through an investigation involving adolescents who were initially suspected of having DX but were subsequently found to meet diagnostic criteria for DLD as well.
Collectively, these studies provide a basis for reflection on the intersection of Developmental Language Disorder and reading difficulties, emphasizing the importance of accurate differential diagnosis.
The findings underscore the need for tailored interventions that address the specific characteristics and requirements of each disorder to optimize outcomes for affected individuals.