Do single or multiple deficit models predict the risk of dyslexia in Standard Indonesian

Although our understanding of reading acquisition has grown, the study of dyslexia in Standard Indonesian (SI) is still in its infancy. A recently developed assessment battery for young readers of SI was used to test the feasibility of Pennington et al.’s (2012) multiple-case approach to dyslexia in the highly transparent orthography of SI. Reading, spelling, phonological skills, and nonverbal IQ were assessed in 285 first, second, and third graders. Deficits in reading-related cognitive skills were classified and regression analyses were conducted to test the fit of single and multiple deficit models. Naming speed (NS) was the main predictor of reading and decoding fluency, followed by phonological awareness (PA), and verbal working memory (VWM). Accounting for 33% of the cases that satisfied both methods of individual prediction (i.e., classification of deficits and regression analysis), the hybrid model proved the best fit. None of the deficits in PA, NS, or VWM alone was sufficient to predict a risk of dyslexia in the present sample, nor was a deficit in PA necessary. Hence, there are multiple pathways to being at risk of dyslexia in SI, some involving single deficits, some multiple deficits, and some without deficits in PA, NS, or VWM.