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LBPD Live: Stroke & Dyslexia

National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled

When reading is difficult after a stroke...

Learn about the types of reading difficulties that individuals may experience after a stroke, often referred to as ‘acquired dyslexia”.  Some of these difficulties may be similar to traditional print difficulties related to low vision or vision loss, but others are quite different.  While reading may seem “easy” and “automatic”, it may become suddenly very difficult after a stroke.  You will learn about the different mental operations that are involved in the very complex task of reading.  Because of this complexity, a stroke may disrupt different components of the reading process, leading to distinct types of deficits. We will discuss some of the different types of deficits that have been identified and how testing can be used to identify them.

Brenda Rapp is a Professor of Cognitive Science at Johns Hopkins University.  She earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. degree in Special Education from the University of Maryland.  She serves as editor-in-chief of the journal Cognitive Neuropsychology.  Her research focuses on understanding the mental and brain processes that allow us to read and spell.  She works with a variety of different populations of people who have written language difficulties -dyslexia and dysgraphia.  These include adults who have suffered a stroke, adults with neurodegenerative brain disease, children with developmental dyslexia and/or dysgraphia, as well as older and younger adults and children with normal written language skills.  Her goals are to better understand the nature of written language difficulties in order to better inform therapies.  She uses several research methods, including behavioral experiments and neuroimaging of brain structures, as well as brain activity during learning written language and during recovery in response to therapies. 

About the Presenter: The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS), Library of Congress, administers a free national library program that provides braille and recorded materials to people who cannot see regular print or handle print materials. Established by an Act of Congress in 1931 to serve blind adults, the program was expanded in 1952 to include children, in 1962 to provide music materials, in 1966 to include individuals with other physical disabilities that prevent reading regular print, and in 2016 to permit NLS to provide refreshable braille displays. Congress funds the NLS program annually, and books and materials are mailed for free to the Blind or Handicapped through a separate appropriation to the United States Postal Service. NLS service is provided directly by a network of cooperating libraries funded through a combination of state, local, and/or federal sources.

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