Allophonic Perception in Dyslexia: An Overview / Percepción alofónica en la dislexia: una revisión

Allophonic theory claims that people affected by dyslexia perceive speech in allophonic rather than phonemic units. After a brief review of the featural theory of speech perception, the evidence supporting the allophonic theory is summarized. The difference between allophonic perception and reduced phoneme perception acuity is emphasized, the latter being a common characteristic of various disorders of language development and thus not specific to dyslexia. Taking this fundamental difference into account, the counterevidence against allophonic theory is examined, and proposals for future testing and remediation are formulated.