Growth Curves and Predictors of Touch‐Typing Fluency in 12–13‐Year‐Old Students With and Without Dyslexia

ABSTRACT

Students with dyslexia often have difficulties with higher and lower‐level writing skills. Research shows that they have lower transcription speed and accuracy compared to their peers. A commonly recommended educational adjustment for addressing writing difficulties of these students is the use of a computer and typing instead of handwriting. However, there is evidence that students with language‐based handwriting problems can also type slowly. As dyslexia is also associated with difficulties in procedural learning, these students may have difficulties in learning touch‐typing. This study investigated how Slovenian students aged 12–13 years with dyslexia ( n  = 21) learn touch‐typing on a keyboard home‐row compared to their peers without dyslexia ( n  = 21). The growth curves for typing fluency were analysed using linear mixed modelling. The results showed that students with dyslexia achieved significantly lower typing fluency and slower learning progress at all learning stages. Students without dyslexia reached a learning plateau earlier. The achieved touch‐typing fluency was best predicted by simple finger typing fluency, pre‐existing typing technique fluency, and non‐word decoding fluency. Our study enhances understanding of the touch‐typing acquisition in students with dyslexia, though further research is needed to explore how this development unfolds across all phases of learning touch‐typing.