Biomedical Engineering Reference
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rather to manage with sufficient confidence, the process of reading (in this case, dyslexia),
writing (dysorthography and dysgraphia when the quality of the written line is affected),
and mathematical calculation (dyscalculia). These disorders may present in isolation or
in association with each other and do not depend in any way, from an etiological point of
view, on relational or psychological problems in general. However, in some cases they may
unfortunately become the cause of psychological difficulties rather than fully developed
psychopathologies of, for example, an anxious or depressive nature (Rourke and Fuerst
1991; Daniel et al. 2006; Morgan and Fuchs 2007).
In this respect, the role of an SLP would appear very important both in contributing to
assessment and, above all, in rehabilitation. This is true even if the SLDs are only in part
linked to language, or rather to linguistic functions inasmuch as the processes of reading,
writing, and calculation involve other areas and cognitive processes such as visuopercep-
tive and visuospatial skills, visuomotor integration, attention, executive functions, and
short- and long-term memory. In other words, reading, referring to the Representional
Redescription (RR) model proposed by A. Karmiloff Smith (1992, p. 17), is a process that
“modularizes,” that is, it tends to become highly automatic, and for such modularization to
occur, according to Moskovitch and Umiltà (1990) and, contrary to the hypothesis of Fodor
(1983), it would be necessary to turn to other processes enabling the assembly of submod-
ules (see Moscovitch and Umiltà, 1990, p. 12). In fact, reading, according to Moscovitch and
Umiltà's model, would be included among the third type of module, that is, those that are
assembled on a voluntary basis, departing from the second type of module, in this case,
language and visuoperceptive functions, which on the contrary would be assembled with-
out voluntary intervention (indeed, one refers to the acquisition of language, rather than
learning) (Moscovitch and Umiltà 1990, pp. 16-18). This “assemblage” occurs thanks to the
attentional resources dedicated by the supervisory attentional system, as hypothesized by
Shallice (1988).
To conclude, from this perspective first-type modules (the assemblage of which gener-
ates second-type modules) would be those of Fodor, not assembled and with functional
specificity. For example, the perception of colors, acoustic frequencies, visual and acous-
tic localization, depth, and faces would be first-type modules. From this approach there
emerges a model for reading of the following type (Figure 14.5).
Perception of
simple
configurations
Perception of
elementary
sounds
Coordination of
perceived unity
Phonatory
coordination
Implicit attentional resources
DEDICATED PROCESSOR
Implicit attentional resources
DEDICATED PROCESSOR
Type II module: VISUAL PERCEPTION
Type II module: LANGUAGE
Explicit attentional resources
CENTRAL PROCESSOR
READING
Type III module
READING
FIgUre 14.5
Illustration of reading as a third-type module formed by different possible second-type modules, visuopercep-
tion and language, which in turn are formed by simpler first-type modules such as perception of simple con-
figurations and perception of elementary sounds at the top of the diagram. (Moscovitch, and Umiltà, C. Modular
Deficits in Alzheimer-Type Dementia , Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1990.)
 
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