Are Perceptual Skills Necessary for Success in Reading? Which Ones?

Numerous reading and reading readiness programs have been made available to teachers over the years, constructed on the assumption that certain auditory and visual perceptual skills are prerequisites to successful achievement in academics, particularly reading. Many educators have suggested that children who have been labeled learning or reading disabled demonstrate deficits at the perceptual level. In fact, many of those who have been instrumental in the field of learning disabilities have suggested that all learning disabled children have perceptual processing problems and that these perceptual problems are at the root of their learning disabilities (Barsch 1965; Cruickshank, 1977; Frostig, 1970; Getman, 1965; Kephart, 1960; Wepman, 1974). ARE PERCEPTUAL SKILLS NECESSARY FOR SUCCESS IN READING? WHICH ONES?