Reading

Reading, process of assimilating language in the written form. Initial language development in children is largely as speech and has a primarily auditory or phonetic component; the recognition of written letters, words, and sentences represents a transition from the auditory to the visual mode. In reading, vision is linked with the system controlling eye movement, so that the page is scanned in an orderly fashion. Reading is represented in essentially the same areas of the brain as are concerned with speech, and disorders of the two often occur together. In dyslexia, pattern recognition is impaired, and a defect of reading and language development results.