A large achievement gap between children with dyslexia and typical readers is already present by 1st grade, making it critical to identify and provide effective interventions at the start of school, according to new research published in the Journal of Pediatrics.

 The current emphasis is on reading by 3rd grade, but the research team from the University of California, Davis, and Yale University say efforts to identify or address dyslexia should begin as early as kindergarten or even pre-K.

“If the persistent achievement gap between dyslexic and typical readers is to be narrowed, or even closed, reading interventions must be implemented early, when children are still developing the basic foundation for reading acquisition,” said Emilio Ferrer, a University at California, Davis, psychology professor and the study’s lead author.

The team of six researchers used the Connecticut Longitudinal Study to create a subsample of 414 children who had their reading skills assessed annually from preschool through 12th grade. Seventy-nine of the children were identified as dyslexic based on their scores on two assessments given in the 2nd or 4th grade. Compared with typical readers, dyslexic readers had lower reading scores as early as 1st grade, and the achievement gap persisted throughout their education.

The data also confirmed that dyslexia is essentially a phonological problem where the processing of basic speech sounds is impaired. This impairment affects both spoken and written language. Children who mispronounce words, have difficulty learning the names of the letters in the alphabet or are unable to find an object that starts with a particular sound, like “buh” for ball, are most likely to be diagnosed with dyslexia, the researchers concluded.