Fact · Accessibility and health
In a 2015 study of Spanish adults with dyslexia, spelling performance was comparable whether the output was typing, handwriting or oral spelling.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“significant effect of word length. Moreover, they perform comparably across modality of input ... across modality of output (typing, handwriting, oral spelling)”
Spelling impairments in Spanish dyslexic adults, Olivia Afonso et al., Frontiers in Psychology, 2015, Discussion.
Open the original (DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00466)- What it measures
- The adults with dyslexia and a control group produced spelling by typing, by handwriting and aloud, across tasks that included copying and spelling to dictation. The study tested spelling, not the typing of long drafts.
- What it does not show
- The sample is small and the language is Spanish, which has a transparent spelling system. The result shows that spelling weakness carries across output methods in this study. It does not measure everyday typing speed or typing errors in English.