Wider letter spacing helps dyslexic children read, study says

A new study has found that dyslexics can be helped by widening the letter spacing of words.

Researchers at the University of Padua, looking at about 70 children with dyslexia, found that extra-wide letter spacing increased reading speeds by more than 20 percent and doubled their reading accuracy.

French and Italian children were given texts with various sizes and spacing

Tests were given two weeks apart.

Those texts with wider spacing and larger letter sizes helped make significant improvements in reading among dyslexic children.

"We were surprised by the magnitude of the spacing benefit," said study author Marco Zorzi, a professor of psychology and artificial intelligence at the University of Padua, reported HealthDay.

"The average increase in reading speed is equivalent to that observed across one year of school — and the halving of the number of errors speaks for itself."

It is known that those with dyslexia are affected by what has been called "crowding," which makes letters harder to identify when closer to other letters.

WebMd says that those with dyslexia are overly attentive to information that comes from the edges of their vision – a phenomenon that worsens the effects of "crowding."

"Practitioners only know too well that getting dyslexic children to read more is a key component in achieving long-lasting improvements in reading skills," said the study, according to AFP.

"Extra large letter spacing, which could even be optimized adaptively on an individual basis, can certainly contribute to achieving this goal."

The new research highlights the benefits of using new e-readers in which letter spacing can be adjusted.

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.