REMEDIATION OF ACQUIRED DYSGRAPHIA AS A TECHNIQUE FOR TESTING INTERPRETATIONS OF DEFICITS

This article describes a brain-damaged patient, J.E.S., whose pattern of impaired spelling suggested deficits affecting the graphemic output lexicon, the graphemic buffer, and the phoneme-grapheme conversion process. A remediation study was undertaken to test the assumptions of graphemic output lexicon and graphemic buffer impairment. The results supported the conclusion of an output lexicon deficit, but raised questions about the hypothesized buffer deficit. The study accordingly illustrates a way in which remediation procedures may be used to test interpretations of deficits, and the models upon which these interpretations are based.