Family History Is Not Useful in Screening Children for Dyslexia

Accurate and efficient early screening is important for providing effective early intervention for dyslexic readers. While family history is often considered a contributing risk factor for dyslexia, some have suggested that it could serve as a proxy for identification of dyslexia. We examined the classification accuracy of family history as a screening measure for dyslexia using an epidemiologic sample of 398 children followed from age 5 through adulthood. Sensitivity of family history for predicting dyslexia was unacceptably low for all family member groups. Moreover, results from receiver operating characteristic curves indicate that predicting dyslexia using family history does not improve the value of using an evidence-based early screening measure alone. Together, these analyses indicate that family history is inadequate as a screening measure for dyslexia; and thus, the use of positive family history as a proxy for dyslexia is unwarranted.