ABSTRACT
Investigators associated with the Colorado Learning Disabilities Research Center (CLDRC)havebeenexploringgeneticandenvironmentalin—uencesonreading andrelatedskillssince1979.Fromthebeginning,ourselectionofmeasuresand theoreticalframeworkhasbeenstronglyin—uencedbythephonologicaldeˆcit hypothesis.Thus,wearedeeplygratefultoDonShankweilerandhiscolleagues for their pioneering theoretical and empirical contributions that emphasized the importanceofphonologicalskillsinlearningtoread.Theirgenerousconsultation onthedevelopmentofourinitialtestbatterysupportedourinclusionofseveral experimentalmeasuresofphonologicalawarenessanddecodingthathaveplayed animportantroleinourbehavior-geneticandinterventionresearchoverthepast 30 years. This chapter provides an overview of results from the CLDRC that largelysupportthephonologicaldeˆcithypothesisandalsosuggesttheneedfor some revision of the hypothesis and its implications for intervention.
