Although dyslexia is generally attributed to phonological deficits, the constellation of difficulties associated with dyslexia is much more extensive. The challenge for the interdisciplinary community involved in dyslexia research is to define specific behavioral indicators (“endotypes”) that would aid the early detection of children at risk of reading failure. I will review evidence related to three inter-related questions about the importance of sensory processing impairments to reading disability:

How strong is the evidence for an association between visual and auditory processing deficits and dyslexia?

Are these deficits specific to dyslexia?

What are the potential mechanisms by which sensory processing deficits might affect reading development and dysfunction?

Results from empirical work and meta-analyses support the heterogeneous nature of the underlying sensory deficits associated with reading disability and therefore question the utility of unitary deficit hypotheses for explicating the mechanisms underlying reading disability.